Yesterday's Tomorrow
by Umei no Mai
Summary: This is not actually the future, Tsuna is sure of that much. The alternatives aren't exactly better, even though he's pretty sure he'll get rescued eventually. Hopefully. Probably. Provided he can stay alive long enough in this ridiculous Matrix-style death-game... A Black Sky sidestory in three acts. Tsuna-centric; frequently oblivious narrator. T for violence only.
1. Act 1

This story is written on Fanfiction dot net and published there only. Anybody reading this story on other websites is reading unauthorised copies. Please read this story on Fanfiction dot net where I can see reviews and hit-counts, which tell me how much people are enjoying my work so I can be encouraged to go on writing.

Tsuna isn't a primary character in Black Sky and what happens to him isn't relevant to the main plot unless it affects Dorea and Xanxus in some way, but I wanted to write this so people could see how things have changed. Besides, well... it _is_ relevant to various minor characters despite not requiring a centre stage presence.

Beta'd (as ever) by Insane Scriptist.

* * *

**Yesterday's Tomorrow **

Tsuna blinked rapidly as the clouds of distinctive pink Ten-Year Bazooka smoke dissipated, leaving him lying on his back in total darkness. Reaching out gingerly on both sides, he found a smooth, faintly grainy surface. Cool to the touch but not cold; wood?

He wasn't sure what he was lying on but it was uneven, springy and smelled very strongly floral; unpleasantly so in fact. There was also the very faint sound of birdsong coming from somewhere nearby. Reaching up revealed the existence of another smooth wooden surface; he was in a box. An unsecured box, thankfully: as soon as he exerted a bit of pressure the flat wood above him moved, sliding sideways with relative ease. Sitting up and squinting at the sudden light, Tsuna looked around.

It was a clearing in a wood. There was nothing anywhere in sight except trees, shrubs, sunlight and the box he was sitting in.

Why had his future self been in a box? Why was the box full of _lilies_ of all things? He didn't even _like_ lilies; they smelled very strongly and the pollen got everywhere. Glancing down his back revealed at least a dozen stains and he hadn't even got up yet.

Tsuna sneezed, rubbing his nose on his sleeve and getting up onto his knees. Well at least–

–it was a _coffin_. Not a box. A _coffin_. A shiny black lacquered coffin with an 'X' and the Vongola crest on the lid.

Why had his future self been in a _coffin_?! No wait, Future Lambo had said all futures were maybes, right? That meant this wasn't truly real. This was a _possibility_. He just had to wait out his five minutes and he'd be back home and able to _do something_ to make sure he wasn't _dead _and_ in a coffin _before he was twenty-five.

Tsuna side-eyed the coffin lid, shuffling his feet as he edged backwards and tried to open his ears to his surroundings; he could only hear birdsong but that at least meant there probably wasn't anything nasty lurking nearby. Why did his coffin have an 'X' on it? He'd _lost_ the Ring Battles, he _wasn't_ Tenth, would _never_ be Tenth; Xanxus had made that much abundantly clear.

If this was a maybe-future, it was definitely a very _unlikely_ one since the only way for him to be Tenth after losing the Ring Battles was for Xanxus to be dead and all the Sky relatives Grandma had mentioned to be dead too.

Tsuna bit his lower lip hard; actually, that didn't help. He wanted to go home now and call Grandma, so she could call Xanxus and he could make sure this future _never_ happened. Tsuna didn't want to be Vongola Tenth, _especially_ not if it had only happened because half his family got murdered in the decade between _his_ now and _this_ now!

There was a rustle of something moving through long grass and Tsuna spun to face it, hand digging automatically in the pocket where he kept his Sky Ring and sliding it over the tip of his finger. He might have deliberately buried the gloves Reborn had given him under the edge of Takeshi's family dojo so he didn't have to look at them anymore, but he was getting pretty good at using Flames without them so long as he was wearing his Ring. Xanxus's casual use made it clear that with enough practice he wouldn't need the Ring either, but he wasn't that good yet. Then again, he'd only been using Giotto's Ring for ten days and Xanxus had made it fairly clear that _he_ had nearly twenty years' experience with using Flames; Tsuna had time.

Well, he _should_ have had time. "Who's there?" He might have to learn in a hurry if things kept happening like this.

A man stepped out of the trees, sunlight gleaming on messy silver hair and playing softly across the shoulders of the very expensive-looking fitted black Western suit. He was tall –easily twenty centimetres taller than Tsuna, maybe more– but weirdly familiar.

"You're–" the man said hoarsely, face haggard and jade green eyes wide as he stumbled unsteadily closer to Tsuna and the coffin and fell heavily to his knees.

Closer to the stranger's face was even more familiar, making it clear he wasn't actually a stranger at all.

"Tenth!" The ten years' later version of Gokudera said desperately, grabbing Tsuna by the shoulders. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

This wasn't real, Tsuna reminded himself firmly as the silver-haired man shook, his grip on Tsuna's upper arms painfully tight. This wasn't real, this hadn't actually happened yet. It was an illusion, a maybe, a possibility. He _wasn't_ going to be Vongola Tenth and Gokudera _wasn't_ going to be his right-hand man. He'd _lost_ the Ring Battles and was permanently disqualified from the succession. This was a glitch or something; Giannini-san had messed up the Ten-Year Bazooka when he'd visited to tune everybody's weapons in the summer, so maybe he'd messed up the bazooka again while fixing the mess he'd made and now it only accessed impossible futures? That was honestly more likely that this actually being a _real_ potential future. It would explain why he'd seen an unscarred Future Lambo right before the Lightning Battle too… and why this Gokudera had no scars that he could see.

"Can you let go?" He asked hesitantly. "You're hurting me."

Future Gokudera instantly flinched back, instantly letting go of Tsuna's shoulders. "Sorry," he muttered again, eyes never leaving Tsuna's face.

"Um, I mean," Tsuna rambled on, wondering how much longer he had left before the bazooka's time limit ran out, "this is probably really hard to believe, but I was hit by Lambo's Ten-Year Bazooka by accident."

"I see," Future Gokudera murmured, "only five minutes…" he closed his eyes, jaw tightening; Tsuna got the brief but distinct impression that the man was ruthlessly crushing abject despair. "Listen carefully Boss," Gokudera said, voice tight and quiet, "please, when you return to the past, you must remember this moment and do exactly as I say."

"Huh?" Tsuna wasn't going to promise anything –he also _certainly_ wasn't going to tell this rather scary older version of Gokudera that he _wasn't_ going to be a Vongola Boss– when he was pretty sure this wasn't _his_ future. Some kind of illusion maybe? Mukuro had been explaining more about Mist Flames to him on Sunday and Territories had come up; they'd sounded terrifying and Mukuro's palpable enjoyment of his nervousness had made it worse. Could this be an illusion tied to the Bazooka rather a real possible future?

"There's no time for details," Future Gokudera went on, tone soft and flat, "when you get back, you have to eliminate this person immediately!"

"Wha?!" Tsuna wasn't going to get rid of _anybody!_ He wasn't going to ask Xanxus to do that either! Especially not just because a theoretical future version of Gokudera told him to!

"This is a current picture of him," Future Gokudera went on, words speeding up as he pulled a Polaroid print out of his suit jacket and pushed it in front of Tsuna's face, "you should recognise him from your first year in middle school."

"Who is it?" Tsuna asked, freaked out. Why was _any_ version of Gokudera urging him to get rid of somebody?! Shouldn't his friend _know_ he wasn't that kind of person at _all_?!

"There's no need to hesitate," Future Gokudera finished shortly, ignoring his question. Tsuna realised that his friend's eyes looked bruised, as though he'd not got enough sleep lately.

"No but, wait a minute! By 'eliminate' you mean 'kill,' right?" Tsuna pointed out, stalling desperately. Surely his five minutes would be up soon…

"If that guy didn't exist, white orchid wouldn't be like this," Future Gokudera said heavily.

"White orchid?" Tsuna echoed hesitantly. Did Gokudera mean it as a name? Was he talking about a somebody or maybe an organisation called Byakuran then, rather than referring to the actual plant? What had _happened_ in this weird not-future for the Gokudera in it to be so, so serious?

"This next thing is just a precaution," Future Gokudera went on, but Tsuna didn't let him finish. He had a question of his own he wanted answering.

"Um, one thing that's been bugging me," he interrupted firmly, "why am I in a coffin?" He couldn't have been dead, right? The bazooka didn't work like that. Future Lambo had made that fairly clear. So why would his future self have been in a coffin full of these awful stinky flowers? "Why is the future me in a coffin?"

Future Gokudera's face twitched, forehead creasing in pain. "That is…" he breathed, voice hitching, "because…" he swallowed hard.

Tsuna waited.

"You…" Green eyes filled with tears and the man hunched forwards, hands gripping the edge of the coffin so tightly his knuckles went white. "Tenth, you…" A quick, harsh breath. "You died."

As the tears started trickling down Future Gokudera's face, Tsuna shuffled forwards and tentatively wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders. The future version of his friend shuddered, whimpered and then collapsed forwards onto him, clutching tightly at his jacket as he shook almost soundlessly.

Tsuna held on, gingerly stroking his older friend's hair as wetness seeped across his shoulder. Wherever this was, it _definitely_ wasn't a possible future. It _couldn't_ be, not if he was dead here. But saying that wouldn't get him anywhere –not when Adult Gokudera was part of the whatever-it-was– so his best bet for getting out would be playing along.

Five minutes had definitely come and gone by now, but he was still here. That wasn't good.

Wait, Reborn had vanished yesterday. Had that been bazooka related? If so, was Reborn here somewhere? If he was, how could Tsuna find out? Would Mukuro come looking for him here, wherever 'here' was, if he got stuck?

Those were things to worry about later though; right now his main problem would be getting details out of an adult version of Gokudera who thought he was the Vongola Tenth. Tsuna _wasn't_ Vongola Tenth, but in this case it might be smarter _not_ to say that right now.

Hopefully there were adult versions of Takeshi and Chrome around here somewhere too. Heck, even an adult Hibari would be reassuring right now…

Tsuna's stomach rumbled; Adult Gokudera pulled back abruptly, sleeve scrubbing across his face as he looked around sharply.

"I, erm, that was me," Tsuna admitted embarrassedly; lunch had been a long time ago.

"No," Adult Gokudera said, reaching back for his suitcase and flicking it open, "there's somebody else here."

"Hello there," came a stranger's voice as a dark-haired person wearing a red visor and a long cape stepped out of the trees.

"Lal Mirch." Adult Gokudera closed his case and got slowly to his feet, but didn't seem inclined to attack. Not an enemy then?

"Who's this?" Lal Mirch asked; they were nearly as tall as Adult Gokudera and their voice was fairly low, so Tsuna wasn't entirely sure if they were a man or a woman. The cape made it impossible to tell.

"This is Tenth," Adult Gokudera said firmly. Tsuna slid a hand back into his pocket to grip the ring that had slid off his finger back when the grown up version of his friend had first grabbed him; he had a bad feeling about this.

"Is he strong enough to survive out here?" Lal asked, tone light and idle.

Tsuna slipped the ring onto his finger and reached inwards for his Flames; that didn't sound good. In fact it sounded an awful lot like the beginning of a shōnen manga, when the mysterious mentor was gearing up for a training montage but was planning on wiping the floor with the hero first, to make sure he knew how outclassed he was.

"It doesn't matter, because I will protect him," Adult Gokudera growled.

"Because you've done so well there so far."

The grown up version of his friend choked, stricken. "I, I _will_," he protested, abruptly turning his back on the stranger to look down at Tsuna, eyes wide and desperate. "I _swear_ Tenth, I'll protect you!"

"I kn-know you will, Gokudera-san," Tsuna said tentatively, not wanting to set off another breakdown, "b-but wouldn't it be smart if I was more trained t-too? S-so I'm not a liability?"

The man swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing. "Later," he decided firmly. "When we're somewhere safe."

"On your head be it then," Lal Mirch said quietly, tone disapproving. "Let's get moving." They produced a short length of chain from under their cloak. "This is a Mammon Chain; wrap it around your Vongola Ring, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna did not _have_ a Vongola Ring, but he still accepted the chain and wrapped it around his hand and ring. Whatever was going on, he didn't want to give away anything that might get him into trouble later. Lal Mirch was wearing several rings, but they hadn't bothered to wrap them in anything. They hadn't given Gokudera anything to wrap around _his_ rings either, which suggested the problem was only for _Vongola_ Flame Rings. Which he wasn't actually wearing, since Xanxus had them.

Why did Lal Mirch have a chain for hiding Vongola Rings at all? If Adult Gokudera had been wearing a Vongola Ring, surely he'd have –or need– one too? If he _didn't_ have one, then how come he was calling Tsuna 'Tenth'? To be Tenth Adult-him have to have a Vongola Ring, which would mean Adult Gokudera would have one too, being his Storm Guardian.

This made no sense at all and rather confirmed Tsuna's suspicion that this _wasn't_ a potential future he was seeing. Had the Bazooka been booby-trapped while nobody was looking? Xanxus _had_ mentioned other people poking around Namimori during the Ring Battles, so it might not have been Giannini messing up at all…

As Lal Mirch moved ahead Adult Gokudera fell back behind Tsuna, forcing him to trot to stay in the middle of the group. Whatever was going on and wherever they were going, hopefully he'd get some answers soon.

* * *

Adult Gokudera had some cereal bars and a water bottle in his jacket which he gave to Tsuna to eat as they hurried through the woods; Tsuna wasn't sure how long they were going for but it felt like a long time. Especially since nobody spoke.

Eventually they arrived at a river where Lal Mirch crouched down, took off their visor and pushed their cloak down from their face so they could drink, revealing that they were in fact a she. Tsuna also knelt down to drink –he was so thirsty after all that running and the water bottle had already been half-empty– and as he did he noticed Mirch-san –she was probably European and Europeans put surnames last when introducing themselves, right? Besides, 'Lal' sounded more like a woman's name than 'Mirch'– take a vaguely crystalline box out of her cloak, open it with one of her rings and pull something out of it. A something which turned into a little fire balloon with a few dangling threads hanging from the indigo flare keeping the balloon aloft; Tsuna glanced at Adult Gokudera, but it seemed the weird thing was harmless since he just glanced at it then went back to watching their surroundings.

"Now we have a little breathing room," she said firmly, turning back to face Tsuna, "it's past time I got to see what you're made of."

Tsuna got up quickly and took a few steps back from the river, lifting up his hands and letting his Flames dance over his Ring. The chain didn't stop him from using it, but it did muffle things heavily: like he was reaching through water.

Adult Gokudera quickly moved out of the line of fire. "Boss, take the chain off and put your gloves on!"

"I didn't have them on me when I got hit by the bazooka," Tsuna said truthfully as he pocketed the chain, not wanting to mention that he'd got rid of them as soon after losing the Ring Battles as possible. He'd asked Chrome about the translation of the words on the backs of the gloves and it had been so _embarrassing _that he'd got rid of them at the first available opportunity. No wonder Xanxus had been so offended by them!

The grown up version of his friend winced, but stayed well back as Mirch-san tossed her cloak aside entirely, revealing a heavy gauntlet as the rings on the fingers of her other hand lit up. "Let's see what you're made of then, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna swallowed hard and prepared to dodge. Fighting Xanxus had been a lesson in how raw power was no match for skill and that wasting his Flames by flaring them all over the place would just get him killed faster, but he'd not had much time to work out different ways to fight yet, or even to really work out how to conserve his energy better. Yes, the ring _did_ make it easier to keep his energy contained than his gloves had, but that was because the ring required a whole lot more precise focus to shape his Flames with. It was a pinpoint tool after all, completely unlike his gloves which had made pulling out his Flames incredibly easy. If he wanted to coat both hands with Flames _without_ the gloves, he had to think about it a whole lot more. Well, he had to begin with; he was getting better.

He'd not tried Zero-Point at all since his abject failure at using it against Xanxus, but if it came to it he'd do his best. Even though Xanxus had said he was doing it wrong and might hurt himself. Better hurt than dead.

The bullets were easily dodged once he could feel his Flames under his skin. It was easy to perch on the side of a tree too; in the Sky Battle he'd used Flames to keep himself up, but Xanxus had just stood on the wall of the school like Sky Flames meant he could ignore gravity, so Tsuna had experimented a little last week and determined that yes, gravity _could_ be ignored so long as he stayed confident.

Takeshi had thought it was very cool.

"So why are you testing me?" he asked quietly. Even if she didn't answer, Tsuna had determined that when he was in Dying Will Mode he could read people better than normal. Not necessarily _accurately_, but better. Even if she didn't answer out loud, he could still pick up clues.

Mirch-san ignored his question entirely. "The next bullet is different and even Flames cannot stop it."

Tsuna dodged, but the bullet followed him. Turning quickly, he dived into the river, snuffing out the Flames outside his skin as he plunged through the surface; the bullet was on fire –possibly with Flames– so even if the freezing river didn't extinguish it, it would hopefully slow it down.

It worked –the bullet whizzed past his nose and slammed into the river bed, throwing up silt and rock shards– so Tsuna called on his Flames to launch himself up into the air again and dry off. Keeping his Flames burning under his skin had prevented him getting too cold, but he'd still felt the chill and you couldn't breathe underwater.

"–or breath," Mirch-san said softly, probably not intending him to hear her. "If you die here you would only have been a burden. If you want to live, you must _survive_!" She launched something else at him; four more homing bullets.

These ones Tsuna let come in close, then slipped out from under them at the last minute so they all collided with each-other rather than hitting him, dropping briefly into Zero-Point in an attempt to disrupt the Flame tracking aspect which he was mostly sure the bullets relied on. There were missiles which targeted heat after all, so why not bullets which target Flames?

"Minus point," Mirch-san muttered; "Reborn!"

She knew Reborn? Knew _of_ Reborn at least? Ignoring that for the time being, Tsuna emitted Flames from his hands to fly forwards, got in close and punched Mirch-san in the gut, aiming at her spine rather than her skin. Ken had taught him that; well, 'punch _through_ your opponent if you want to hit them properly!' had been shouted at him in passing when Tsuna was sparring with Takeshi one time with Chrome refereeing, but it had still been good advice.

Mirch-san landed awkwardly on the far side of the river. "Well, you certainly have potential, Sawada Tsunayoshi," she said wryly. "Even at my full strength I can't match your power. But times have changed; even at those levels you can't survive in the here-and-now!"

This was feeling more and more like a videogame. Or maybe like that movie that had come out a few years ago, where 'real life' was a computer simulation? If so, he'd like a red pill now, please.

With an acrobatic leap, Mirch-san fired something at him; Tsuna dodged both Flame-covered projectiles –they were _purple_ did that mean she was a Cloud– then gained height to dodge again as they both came back around again, rapidly growing in size. What was–

–Aaagh! A centipede! Lots of giant centipedes!

Tsuna tried to dodge again, but suddenly there were dozens of centipedes wrapping around him. He had to do something! Centipedes bit! He didn't want to get bitten by a two-metre centipede!

Focus. He had to focus, concentrate on what _result_ he wanted or else he was just wasting his energy and time. He wanted to _burn_ the centipedes, wanted to turn them to _ash_–

–closing his eyes, Tsuna focused, making an effort to keep his Flames close and as intense as possible despite lack of practice hindering him.

_Don't think about the wriggly legs…_

The heat under his skin heightened and Tsuna felt his hoodie disintegrate, leaving him standing in his shirt and uniform trousers. Well at least he was _wearing_ his Leon-made Flame-resistant clothes today…

Opening his eyes again, Tsuna touched down on the bank and let out a relieved breath at the sight of the various dismembered centipede pieces strewn around him and floating in the river, all alight with orange and purple and most of them disintegrating into nothing.

"Not bad," Mirch-san said from the far side of the river, her shoulders softening briefly before she turned away to survey their surroundings. "It's getting dark; we'll camp here tonight."

"We should get to safety!" Adult Gokudera protested, coming closer and dropping his suit jacket over Tsuna's shoulders.

"Tsunayoshi can't see in the dark and there're all kinds of things out here," Mirch-san said bluntly, leaping across the river to join them on the near side again. "Better to eat and get some rest first."

"Erm, what are we eating?" Tsuna asked tentatively, letting his Flames die away again and wrapping the oversized jacket around himself more firmly to ward off the chill. Mirch-san had Flames –she'd used them to throw the centipedes at him– but he couldn't feel them now so not using them all the time was probably important for hiding.

"I'll get you food, Tenth," Adult Gokudera said briskly, opening his briefcase again and removing a panel to reveal a small first aid kit and a whole load of bits and bobs. "There's fish in the river; I'll catch some."

"Th-thank you, Gokudera-san."

The grown up version of his friend looked down, briefly meeting his eyes. "No need for suffixes, Tenth," he said gruffly. Tsuna hadn't noticed before, but he had several piercings in the cartilage of both ears.

"Gokudera, then." Tsuna was just grateful the man hadn't requested that they be on first-name terms; that would have been _very_ uncomfortable. Even though he had noticed that Adult Gokudera seemed to look _through_ him a lot of the time, like he was seeing somebody else. Probably Tsuna's adult self. Who was apparently dead, despite Lambo having said that the Bazooka _couldn't_ send you to a potential future where your ten-years-later self was dead.

Unless that was a safety feature or something and it had gotten broken somehow? Who even knew, considering Tsuna wasn't sure Lambo had used it on anybody except himself since the Weapons Tuner had messed with it and the likelihood of the five-year-old noticing something was wrong was rather slim. Had his friends at home figured out what had happened to him yet?

* * *

By the time they were sitting around a camp fire two hours later eating freshly roasted fish, Tsuna had a bit more of an idea of what might be wrong with wherever the bazooka had dumped him. For one, when Adult Gokudera had rolled up his shirt sleeves while fishing he hadn't have _any_ scars on his hands or wrists. Which could have been due to plastic surgery or something like the doctors had talked about, but Tsuna was sure there'd be _some_ scars left even after that.

He wasn't going to draw attention to that though, not when he had more obvious questions he could ask.

"S-so, who are you?"

Mirch-san swallowed. "I belong to the Vongola's CEDEF."

"You work for my d-dad?" Tsuna had _not_ expected that.

"Hm." She glanced at Adult Gokudera, who was sitting a way away from the fire with his back against a tree, eating his fish with most of his attention on the darkness beyond the little clearing they were in. "The whole of the Vongola is currently in a state of emergency. I agreed to investigate the situation and verify the condition of the Tenth's family."

"A state of emergency?" Tsuna asked cautiously. What had happened?

"Correct. Vongola headquarters fell two weeks ago and was destroyed."

What?

"Currently there are no known survivors from Headquarters and the Ninth is still unaccounted for," Mirch-san continued relentlessly, raising her voice slightly and staring across at Adult Gokudera, who was resolutely ignoring her, "the CEDEF team hurried to the rescue, but we lost contact."

"Who?" Tsuna asked, feeling lost. Who could _possibly_ have defeated Xanxus?

"The Millefiore Family," Mirch-san stated calmly. "Their boss's name is Byakuran."

Byakuran; that was the same person Adult Gokudera had mentioned earlier. Weird that the boss of an Italian Mafia Family had a Japanese name though; were they like Tsuna? A cadet heir who hadn't even known about the Underworld until it was sprung on them later? Or maybe they just had a Japanese non-mafia parent?

"W-what about Reborn? Where is he?"

"Reborn and the other Arcobaleno are all dead."

Tsuna flinched. He didn't _like_ Reborn, but the baby was incredibly strong and had been serious about bodyguarding him over the past few weeks, even if he wasn't doing any tutoring anymore. But if _his_ here-self was dead and _he_ was here, maybe Past-Reborn was here too? Since he'd vanished after Lambo shot the bazooka at him? Tsuna had initially thought that Reborn had used the opportunity to get out of the house and away from the whiney five-year-old for a day or so, but Grandma hadn't thought that was likely when he called her. Maybe he was here too? But if so, where could he be? He could be _anywhere_ really.

"The keys to dominating the current war are the rings," Mirch-san continued. "By stealing rings and their boxes, the Millefiore got a boost in power. That's why they raided the Vongola."

Considering Tsuna _didn't have_ a Vongola Ring, that didn't help much. Well, he didn't have an _official_ Vongola Ring; Xanxus had said retired bosses had used these rings before though, so maybe they still counted?

"The importance of the rings is beyond that though. They've existed since the beginning, before the Mafia was even born. They're thought to be a symbol of our predecessors joining forces with the powers of darkness."

Tsuna suspected that if anybody told Xanxus that the Varia boss would laugh rudely in their face; he'd been told his rings had been made for Giotto as a gift when he was a teenager and that didn't sound like it had involved any powers of darkness at all. The official set that had been made to look like the original set might have a different history, but _his_ rings were entirely benign.

"That's why the Mafia Rings must be protected," Mirch-san concluded, glancing sharply at Adult Gokudera again. "They contain a power beyond human understanding."

Tsuna was getting the impression that something bad had happened to the Vongola Rings here, something that Adult Gokudera had been involved in and Mirch-san was angry about. "I know the rings help me channel Flames," he ventured tentatively.

"That's not their only power," Mirch-san said easily. "See the balloon flying over there?"

Tsuna looked up at the fire balloon still floating overhead; a tiny indigo flame was keeping it aloft, but one of the tapers hanging underneath it was also smouldering.

Mirch-san leapt to her feet, throwing her cloak over her shoulders and kicking a pile of dirt over the fire. "Enemies!" She hissed. Adult Gokudera also leapt upright, grabbing his briefcase and pulling Tsuna up and away towards the trees, making sure his jacket was settled properly over Tsuna's shoulders. "They're strong; if they find us it'll probably be all over."

Tsuna swallowed hard, but paid attention to the little voice in the back of his mind complaining about how very shōnen manga this all was. Or like a videogame; there'd even been helpful exposition and a revelation of collectable power boosts.

Life was not this straightforward, he was pretty sure.

There was a low rumbling from overhead, above the leafy canopy.

"Scout," Mirch-san murmured as Adult Gokudera came up so close Tsuna could hear the man's heartbeat. "Stealth Ring should get us past."

A Gola Mosca landed barely a few metres away, wearing a rucksack and with a number twenty painted on its helmet.

"Gola Mosca?" Tsuna asked as quietly as he could.

"Second-generation Mosca shell," Adult Gokudera corrected him softly.

"Strau Mosca," Mirch-san agreed; "the military has been selling the secrets of its black projects to families other than the Vongola lately."

The Mosca turned their way, a square over one eye gleaming redly.

"Can't it see us?" Tsuna whispered nervously.

"Strau won't find us," Mirch-san said firmly. "Its internal sensor is looking for the power of the rings, but the Mammon chains have sealed their power."

But, but Tsuna had an _entire box_ of rings in his trouser pocket! Never mind the ring Lancia had given him around his neck!

The Strau Mosca started walking ponderously towards them.

"You're not carrying any other rings are you Boss?" Adult Gokudera asked urgently.

Emergency or not, Tsuna was _not_ going to mention the box. Not when Xanxus said they were a family secret. "I got this ring from Lancia?" He unclipped the chain from around his neck and held it out. It wasn't a Vongola Ring, so it didn't count, right? Even if the stone _was_ orange, like his family Ring?

"Why didn't you say anything?" Mirch-san hissed furiously.

"You only asked about Vongola Rings!" Tsuna pointed out, doing his best not to squeak in fear.

Adult Gokudera shoved his way forwards, something dark clamped over the top of his shirt sleeve and wrist. "We're still a way off the base, we'll have to fight," he said grimly.

Mirch-san grunted. "With you and me, we _might_ make it," she conceded grudgingly. "But we have to be quick, or else it will call for reinforcements."

The Strau Mosca raised its arm, finger-gun-barrels dark and ominous as a targeting circle gleamed in the reddish square over its eye. Tsuna hunched down behind Adult Gokudera, feeling unpleasantly helpless; if they died now it would be all _his_ fault.

A shadow moved behind the Strau Mosca, then a deep gash appeared in its helmet and its eyes went dark. Tsuna blinked. Who could…

"Attacco di Squalo," said a deep, warm voice. "I wonder if I can get a point off this guy?"

That sounded like…

"The pinch-hitter has arrived!" The tall swordsman said cheerily, walking past the misfiring Mosca and wearing a suit that was identical to Adult Gokudera's apart from the colour of the shirt under it and the fact that the shirt neck was unbuttoned and the tie was loose. Kind of like Xanxus wore his ties, really.

"Oh, it's _you_," Adult Gokudera grumbled, lowering his arm and moving to one side again, giving Tsuna a better view.

"Takeshi?" Tsuna blurted out, utterly confused. "W-wasn't that Squalo's technique?"

"Oh well, isn't this a bad joke?" The grown-up version of his best friend said airily. "I came here to pick up a CEDEF agent and found you guys. Except Tsuna seems to have shrunk; is this an illusion? Demons maybe?"

Okay, this was _definitely_ Takeshi.

"Erm, there was a mix-up with the Ten-Year Bazooka!" Tsuna offered; his hindbrain making a note that Adult Takeshi hadn't seemed to realise he was dead. That was odd. Really odd. Especially when Mirch-san had said Vongola Headquarters had fallen two weeks ago, which implied his adult counterpart had been dead about that long.

"Ah! I see! From back then!" Adult Takeshi said brightly. "Of course; I should have known." He sighed, suddenly looking much more melancholy. "No wonder you're looking so well, Tsuna."

Oh, so maybe he _had_ known.

"Anyway, let's go," the cheery swordsman went on, the sorrow immediately buried under a smile once more. "Having guys like these as our opponents is no laughing matter." He had a scar on his chin and was a lot taller, but otherwise he looked mostly the same.

"You always laugh anyway, idiot," Adult Gokudera muttered, but dropped back behind Tsuna regardless and nudged him forwards to follow Adult Takeshi.

"So, ten years ago," Adult Takeshi mused as they zigzagged through the trees and underbrush. That would be about the time Mukuro showed up, right?"

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed, wondering why he didn't mention the Ring Battles. Surely those were far more memorable..? Takeshi clearly knew Squalo to copy his attack and they'd only met because of the Ring Battles.

"How nostalgic!" Takeshi said cheerfully. "Since then," his face fell and his eyes drifted to focus on the middle distance, "many things have happened." Then the bright smile was plastered over the seriousness once more as he dropped back slightly and leaned an elbow on the top of Tsuna's head. "Oh yeah! You've been awesome these past ten years, Tsuna!"

Tsuna dropped his eyes; he really didn't think that was true if he'd somehow been forced into being Vongola Tenth here. He had a feeling that was something he'd been completely _terrible_ at.

"Shouldn't we be running?" Mirch-san asked abruptly. "It'll take until morning if we walk."

"The information the CEDEF was given about the location of the base was false," Adult Gokudera said abruptly. Tsuna didn't think that made sense; weren't the CEDEF part of the Vongola somehow?

"Yep, we're almost there!" Adult Takeshi added with another careless grin. "Stay close and don't lose sight of me now." He tugged a chain off from the rings on his hand, produced another of those faceted boxes from his jacket and touched the box to the ring, like Mirch-san had done during the fight.

The box opened, erupting in pale blue light that spiralled around them in ever-increasing circles.

"It's defensive camouflage," Adult Takeshi explained, glancing back to meet Tsuna's eye; "don't look away."

A drop of water landed on Tsuna's head, then they were suddenly standing in the middle of a heavy shower.

"Idiot!" Adult Gokudera hissed, stalking forwards past Tsuna and twitching like a wet cat as he vanished through the rain.

"This way!" Adult Takeshi called out, voice just barely audible through the rush of water; Tsuna hurried towards it, then almost stumbled as he arrived at the top of a staircase leading down into the ground, his Rain Guardian leaning against the wall just under the porch. "We're going down," the swordsman added laconically.

Adult Gokudera was already vanishing into the gloom; Tsuna hesitated on the threshold. "The base is underground?" He asked.

"Yup!" Takeshi agreed easily. "There are six similar entrances to this facility. The base serves as an important military node for the Vongola. Construction was rushed, so as a result there are six ways into it."

Tsuna wondered where they were exactly. Was this Italy? Or just somewhere remote on mainland Asia?

Then Takeshi switched on the lights and Tsuna gaped in awe. This place was _huge_! "Amazing! The Vongola built this?!"

Takeshi laughed. "Want to hear something sweet?" He asked, eyes gleaming as he reached out to ruffle Tsuna's hair. "You're the one who built it, Tsuna."

"Whaaa?! Me?!" That made _no sense_!

"Yeah, when you get a bit older," Takeshi agreed warmly as they turned a corner towards a door with some wide bands of light crossing it.

"What's that?" Tsuna asked, meaning the light.

"Giannini the mechanic made it," Takeshi told him, as though it wasn't alarming that the weapon tuner guy was building parts of the base. "From what I can tell, it's some kind of disruption barrier." He walked through it easily though, so Tsuna followed after him, Mirch-san at the rear.

The moment they were through the barrier Mirch-san shuddered, choked and keeled over.

"W-what's going on?" Tsuna asked franticly as Takeshi knelt down beside the worryingly still woman.

"Don't worry about it," Takeshi said confidently. "Her body just went into shock from the big change in atmosphere, since for her kind of people this artificial environment is different from outside. She'll wake up in a bit." He picked up Mirch-san in his arms and set off along the corridor.

"Her kind?" Tsuna echoed quietly as he trailed behind, wondering if this was more videogame-style weirdness.

"Come on, we're here," Takeshi added, grinning as he turned into a side door.

Tsuna followed him in and paused at the sight of Adult Gokudera blocking the way, shoulders tight and fists clenched.

"You're late," a shockingly familiar voice said; Tsuna dodged around the silver-haired man to see if it really _was_ who it sounded like. "Ciaossu."

It really _was_ Reborn. Wearing a really _strange_ outfit. Even for him.

* * *

Half an hour later Tsuna's head was spinning. Apparently they were from 'only' nine years and ten months in the past –did that mean it was September?– and this was Namimori, not abroad? It still sounded fake to him; clearly somebody _had_ fiddled with the Ten-Year Bazooka. Also all the Vongola's bases around the world had been attacked simultaneously and there was a hunt on for the Vongola, with the Millefiore planning to kill every single one of them.

Tsuna didn't ask about how come Gokudera and Takeshi were still alive when Gokudera had confessed that the Adult Tsuna was dead; his instincts were insisting this was a set-up of some kind and he was reluctant to give the game away. "If they're hunting Vongola and associates," he asked warily, "then who's left?"

"The Family's Guardians haven't been confirmed as dead yet," Takeshi said shortly, glancing at Adult Gokudera. There was something dark there; was Takeshi angry at Gokudera about something?

Did it have something to do with Adult Gokudera being alone in the middle of the woods with Adult Tsuna's coffin? Because from what Xanxus had said about the duties of a Vongola Boss and what Grandma had said about Family, a Right Hand _shouldn't_ be out alone on the opposite side of the planet from the Family's recently-destroyed Headquarters with the dead body of their Boss. The fancy coffin full of flowers just made it even clearer that Adult Tsuna hadn't been randomly murdered while visiting Namimori; especially since Takeshi hadn't known he was here and Takeshi seemed to actually be officially assigned to this base.

Tsuna didn't want to think too deeply into the implications there, but they weren't good.

"If you want to survive this Tsuna, you'll have to gather your Guardians," Reborn said seriously.

Tsuna did not protest that he _wasn't_ the Vongola Tenth, or that these adult strangers _weren't_ his Guardians; if he wanted to find out what was going on then he needed to go with the flow for a bit. He'd also have to find somebody who _wasn't_ invested in him being Tenth to ask questions about stuff that was being suspiciously omitted, like the Ring Battles. Gokudera's lack of scars and Takeshi's silence implied they hadn't happened here, which meant this _definitely_ wasn't his future. But if he _was_ trapped in an enemy's Territory, then his best bet was to sit tight and play along. Mukuro and Reborn had both made that clear: Territories were the domain of _incredibly powerful_ Mists who liked to play with people, so the best way to survive was to play along and be entertaining. That way if you survived to the end they might let you go without you needing to be rescued.

Tsuna really wasn't looking forward to that, but at least so far it was just him and Reborn trapped in here.

Hopefully he'd manage a private chat with the baby hitman in a bit, so they could straighten things out.

* * *

Getting Takeshi to leave so he could have a private chat with Reborn was easy; getting Adult Gokudera to leave was impossibly frustrating because the man insisted on being present as Tsuna's 'Right Hand'. In the end Takeshi had stuck his head back around the door, winked at Tsuna and darted in to drag his colleague off by the sleeve, slamming the door closed behind them.

It didn't do much to muffle Adult Gokudera's loud ire, but at least they had some privacy.

"You have to gather the six scattered Guardians," Reborn said as soon as they were alone in the room. "All previous bosses have done this: when a crisis hits the Family, the Sky must gather all six of his Guardians to triumph over the predicament."

"Except I'm _not_ the Vongola Boss," Tsuna pointed out flatly, "and I don't believe this is the future."

Reborn considered this. "What is your reasoning there?"

The hitman was actually listening to him? That was a first. Not wanting to waste the unexpected opportunity, Tsuna immediately tried to explain: "Gokudera-san doesn't have any scars on his hands or wrists and when Takeshi was talking about when I was from, he mentioned Mukuro's first appearance but not the Ring Battles. Surely the Ring Battles would be the big memorable event to reference? Besides, Adult Lambo said the Bazooka only shows _possible_ futures and we're just nine years and ten months ahead rather than ten years. Doesn't that mean this is a possible future from two months ago?" Two months ago was before Basil had showed up with the fake rings, setting the whole mess with the Ring Battles off. "I mean, you've only been here a day, right?"

Reborn paused. "I have been here for ten days, Tsuna," he admitted quietly, "and when I arrived _I_ was two months earlier than I should have been. Now we are nine years, ten months and a little over a week into the future from where we were, since according to you I was only missing for twenty-four hours when you were shot. Are you sure Yamamoto didn't mention the Ring Battles?"

"He used one of Squalo's attacks," Tsuna admitted, "but he never mentioned the Ring Battles. Gokudera-san said I died, and Lal Mirch said you died too, but Adult Lambo told me way before the Ring Battles that it's only possible to visit a potential future where you are alive. So this _can't_ be a potential future." He paused. "I thought it might be like you and Mukuro were telling me about last week, with Chrome." He didn't want to talk about Territories out loud, in case this _was_ one and the Mist was listening.

Reborn hummed. "An interesting theory, certainly," he agreed mildly, "but all the more reason to play along: there are standards to be met after all and gathering their Guardians together has always been the first step for every Vongola boss wishing to strike against the Family's enemies."

In other words, he didn't get a choice. It was going to be like a videogame, where he had to complete various tasks and would probably face an increasingly challenging series of mini-bosses along the way. While having to act as Vongola boss to everybody around him.

Well, at least it was just him and Reborn in here; that was something. He didn't really have to worry about other people when they weren't actually real, beyond worrying about whether he'd need them to make it to the end of the 'game'.

"Do you know who we're looking for and where?" Tsuna asked. Since Reborn had been here a while, he probably knew quite a bit.

"I-Pin and Lambo are here, along with a few others from Italy I've not met before," the hitman told him, "but they went out looking for Miura Haru a while before Yamamoto left to find Lal Mirch. Mukuro is still in Vendicare and nobody knows where Chrome is, but Hibari is supposedly around Namimori somewhere. Ryōhei is in the wind, but will probably show up once news trickles out that the Guardians are gathering. Other allies will likely converge here too, such as Bianchi and Fuuta."

"What about Kyoko-chan?" The adult Kyoko-chan, anyway.

"Nobody's mentioned her, so I assume she's not in danger," Reborn replied calmly. Well, that was something?

"The Varia?"

"Nobody's mentioned them either, interestingly," Reborn mused, "despite them likely being present at the fall of the Vongola. Your mother was in Italy with your father when the Vongola fell as well, but they were reportedly on holiday at the time so they might well still be at large. Takeshi's father however is dead; the Millefiore has apparently been targeting everybody with even the most tenuous Vongola connection."

"So what now?" Tsuna asked helplessly.

"Now you sleep," Reborn said firmly. "Whether or not you are right about the current situation, you will need to take part in tracking people down and strategising tomorrow."

That was sensible. Reborn had already said there was some radiation here that meant he couldn't go outside, which meant he couldn't do any bodyguarding while Tsuna was outside. Which in turn meant the hitman would probably want to tutor him some more, to make sure Tsuna was able to protect himself enough to not get killed here.

Wherever 'here' _really_ was.

* * *

The next morning was a bit awkward, because Reborn had decided the best thing to do right now was to find Hibari –Adult Hibari– which Adult Gokudera was offended by because Reborn worded it as 'finding the strongest person who is ready to fight'. Takeshi got the conversation moving again while Gokudera was snarling angrily, producing a photograph:

"This is the only lead we have; I've been away for a while, so I've got no idea where he is exactly."

So Takeshi had only arrived in Namimori after the fall of the Vongola? Tsuna wondered where he'd been before that and what he'd been doing. There being nobody else around seemed to imply that Adult Tsuna had only had Adult Gokudera with him when he died, which had either been just before or just after the Vongola fell. Seeing as Adult Gokudera didn't seem to have any news about the Vongola's fall, Tsuna got a feeling it had been just before; why had Gokudera been on the run with a dead body? That… he'd barely seen Squalo-san and never really talked to him, but Xanxus had been detained by Vongola Ninth for seven years –or was it six years? He couldn't remember exactly– and according to Lancia-san Squalo had run the Varia efficiently and productively in his absence. That was what a Right-Hand man apparently did: made sure everything was as their boss would want it to be.

Running to the opposite side of the planet with a corpse in a coffin without telling anybody wasn't very responsible behaviour, to Tsuna's mind. No, he _didn't_ want to be Vongola Tenth, but a person shouldn't abandon their family if they were responsible for looking after everybody in it. That wasn't right.

Tsuna peeked at the photograph Adult Gokudera was holding. "Hiee! Isn't that one of Birds' birds?" Birds had been one of Mukuro's minions when he first arrived in Namimori and had been super _super_ creepy!

"Hibari's taking care of it now," Reborn said airily. "It seems to be called Hibird."

Who'd come up with that? It was terrible name!

"A long time ago, Haru saw it riding on Hibari's shoulder," Takeshi said cheerfully, which said exactly where the name had come from.

"This is our _only_ clue?" Tsuna asked plaintively.

"Well, considering how much he loves Namimori, there should definitely be a clue in the town somewhere," Reborn pointed out logically. "Seeing as I can't go, you keep a level head and come back soon."

"Boss, I will scout the outskirts," Adult Gokudera said firmly. "There's a lot of ground to cover and an adult alone is less noticeable. Yamamoto will accompany you into town."

"Isn't it still dangerous?" Tsuna asked, biting his lip. "I mean, with people out there hunting the Vongola?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of!" Takeshi coaxed brightly. "After all, aren't you carrying an amazing power which this era's Family has lost?"

Tsuna blinked. "Lost? Amazing power?" He repeated.

"A hope that you brought with you," Takeshi explained, voice softening. "I mean, the Vongola Ring."

_Those are _your _rings, brat; don't give them to anybody unless you want to, and you can and should take them back if they misuse the privilege. You don't owe anybody your birthright._

Xanxus's words echoing in his ears, Tsuna _knew_ all of a sudden why he and Reborn had been abducted. He also knew he wasn't going to play.

"I d-didn't want to mention it before," he said as firmly as he could, "b-but in my time, I'm not Vongola Decimo." Adult Gokudera and Takeshi both flinched in shock as he hurried onwards, "T-there was a Ring Battle, you see, and I lost, so…" he trailed off lamely.

"But, but you _have_ the Sky Vongola Ring!" Adult Gokudera protested. "I saw it!"

"T-that's a bloodline heirloom ring, a _personal_ ring," Tsuna insisted, refusing to bring up the box still hidden in his trouser pocket. "Xanxus said I needed one to be able to defend myself, even if I wasn't the Vongola Tenth, because I'm still a Family Sky."

"Yeah, that sounds like Xanxus," Takeshi agreed as Gokudera sagged back aginst the kitchen cupboards like his whole world was collapsing. "So, he beat you in a Ring Battle?"

"The Varia b-beat _all_ of us," Tsuna mumbled. "Lambo nearly _died_ and Gokudera –my Gokudera– is still in hospital."

"I wonder how the bazooka brought you here when you're not from our past," Takeshi mused.

That was a good question to ask, but Tsuna had no idea what the answer was. "Maybe Giannini didn't fix it properly," he muttered bitterly; dealing with the weapons tuner at the same time as those invisible assassins had been a _nightmare_ and he'd not really got a chance to deal with it, not when that mess had been followed by Mukuro showing up and then the Ring Battles.

Takeshi laughed. "Aaah, yes, he used to be a bit of a disaster, didn't he?" He rubbed the scar on his chin. "Oh well, you're here and we'll just have to work with it, I guess. I'm sure they'll work things out on your end soon enough, and then you'll be home safe. Let us take care of you until then though, please?"

"O-okay." Takeshi was Takeshi, Tsuna supposed; they were friends after all.

"And we'd be really grateful if you did help out," Takeshi added with a hopeful smile, "since we really don't have any rings as good at the one you're wearing. I'm guessing it's one of the Vongola's spare sets, like Ninth's Guardians wore after handing over the main rings?"

"Y-yes," Tsuna admitted warily.

"Yeah, those are good rings; not as good as the proper Vongola set, but still really good." The adult version of his friend met his eyes earnestly. "So, please? Help us get everybody together so we can strike back against the Millefiore and not lose anyone else?"

"Okay," Tsuna agreed, remembering that Takeshi's father was among those who had died already. He hadn't really thought admitting to not being Vongola Tenth would get him out of fighting –especially not if this was some kind of live-action videogame thing, as videogames had limited plot pathways and you had to stick to them in order to advance– but it felt good to clear the air a bit.

"But Boss! Does that mean _Xanxus_ is Tenth?" Adult Gokudera demanded, hands waving. "He doesn't care about the Family at _all_!"

Tsuna wanted to say that _he_ didn't care about the Vongola _either_. "Xanxus won the Ring Battles," he repeated steadily, "and he knows a _lot_ more about the Vongola than I do."

"But still!"

"Maa, that's not our problem, is it though?" Takeshi pointed out mildly. "Let's all head out and see if we can stumble across Hibari."

* * *

"S-so," Tsuna asked tentatively as they emerged from another of the base's exits, this one in a derelict part of the factory district, "what _did_ happen to the Vongola Rings? H-here, I mean?"

"Oh, they got smashed and thrown away a while back," Takeshi said cheerfully. "Come on, Nami middle school is this way."

"What?!" Tsuna had nearly _died_ for those Rings due to his father being stupid and somebody had _destroyed_ them? "Who would do that?!" Xanxus definitely wouldn't! You, you just _didn't_ do that to family heirlooms!

Takeshi tossed a smirk at him over one shoulder. "Our Boss did."

"Me?!" Well not _him_ obviously, but still! Why would _any_ version of him do that?!

"There were some Guardians who objected," Takeshi conceded, striding on ahead and forcing Tsuna to trot to keep up, "but you refused to give in."

"B-but _why_?" Tsuna asked plaintively, doing his best not to trip on any of the rocks and rubbish lying around.

Takeshi laughed, not looking back. "So you don't know either? Tsuna spoke of destroying the Vongola Rings in order to change us. There was a lot of fuss about the importance of rings in the Mafia; another battle over them was looming closer. You, well he I guess, was probably thinking that it was best not to fan the flames of war, right? That's just the kind of man you are, even to the point of doubting the purpose the Vongola exists for."

Tsuna could see that, maybe. He didn't like fighting. But still, destroying the Rings sounded like the sort of thing that would _start_ a war, not end one, what with how much of a fuss dad and everybody else had made over them. Xanxus and Grandma had both said the Vongola was an alliance of multiple Families who had all agreed to follow the Don Vongola, so would destroying the Rings count as breaking that alliance? Since the Rings were an important part of _making_ somebody Don Vongola?

"Still," Takeshi continued, glancing back, "even now we _do_ rely pretty heavily on rings. Don't worry though Tsuna; we'll train you up like baseball camp!"

"By the way Takeshi," Tsuna asked, grateful for a change in subject, "how's baseball..?"

The adult version of his friend didn't get a chance to answer, because right at that moment there was a massive explosion in front of them.

* * *

Barely a minute later Tsuna was surrounded by more older versions of people he knew –Lambo and I-Pin that he recognised from previous Bazooka incidents and Chrome who mostly looked taller but still rather frail– plus a strange girl about the same age as I-Pin, all of them sheltering behind a huge barrier made of water that Takeshi had conjured up out of a box to protect them from the two guys with Flame-powered rocket boots that Takeshi had called Black Spell. Whatever that was.

"Hi Tsuna, glad you could make it!" Adult Chrome chirped.

Tsuna wanted to point out that the local version of him _hadn't_ made it and was never going to, but didn't. The girl standing behind Adult Chrome rolled her eyes with a sigh; she was almost as tall as Lambo with round violet eyes, rather pale skin and curly black hair twisted up in buns on both sides of her head like Princess Leia. She looked very foreign, with a high, straight nose and sharp cheekbones as well as long, curling eye-lashes. Somebody else from Italy, maybe?

"How dare you ruin my shirt that matches my brother's!" The younger rocket-boot guy shouted angrily.

"Hey Tsuna, remember this okay?" Takeshi said, turning to catch his eye. "The ring you have –all high-end Flame-rings really– have the power to open these boxes."

"So you just touch the ring to the box and it opens?" Tsuna asked, because if this was anything like a proper videogame there'd be a test later and if he missed the full tutorial he'd lose horribly when a fight happened.

"There isn't just blood in the human body," Takeshi said seriously, which seemed to indicate Tsuna had in fact activated a proper tutorial, "there are things you can't see with the naked eye. We also have life energy coursing through us in the form of pulses or waves. There are seven types of energy wave–"

Like the seven different colours of Vongola ring?

"–and when you harmonise with a ring, your life-waves pass through it and are converted into high-density energy. That is Dying Will Flame." That said, Takeshi demonstrated by opening another box, launching the tiny blue fiery thing he'd used yesterday to make a rainstorm at the two Black Spell attackers, where it buzzed around them like an angry mosquito.

Tsuna made an effort to memorise the instructions; if he'd got exposition, there was _definitely_ going to be a test later. He needed a Flame Ring and Dying Will Flames to open the special boxes; okay. He could remember that.

I-Pin looked around. "Haru is missing!"

What, Haru had been here too?

"Tsuna, you go look for her," Adult Chrome said firmly, producing a very familiar trident out of nowhere. "I was trying to lie low, but they've already recognised Takeshi as a Guardian so I may as well join in."

Tsuna did his best to smile; Chrome liked it when he smiled. "Have f-fun," he told her, then turned the way the group had come from and ran off away from the fight.

He ducked as fire flashed in his peripheral vision, but the immediate explosion threw him off his feet and through a window into one of the nearby buildings. Luckily for him, a pile of junk broke his fall; it still hurt though.

Takeshi and Chrome were out there; I-Pin and the others would be fine. Tsuna just had to find Haru-chan. She'd probably been blown away by the earlier explosion like he had been by this one, so she should be around in here somewhere. He got to his feet and set off, looking around the cavernous space for doors she might have walked through and corners to check behind.

"Haru-chan? Are you in here?"

Hopefully she'd be okay. She wasn't Kyoko-chan –and it was a relief that Adult Kyoko-chan didn't need finding or rescuing; she was probably with Onī-san– but she was still a friend. Sort of.

Then he turned a corner and almost ran into her. "Waah!"

"I knew you'd show up in time to rescue us, Tsuna!" Haru-chan –Haru-san?– said triumphantly from where she was sitting on the floor. She looked… pretty much the same really, despite being ten years older. Maybe a bit curvier and more maturely dressed, oh and her hair was much shorter, but that was all. Still Haru.

"I'm sorry, but I think I've sprained my ankle," Haru-san continued with an embarrassed smile. "I've tied my other sock around it, see? But I still can't walk like this." Indeed, her right ankle above her shoe had a stocking tied tightly around it and her left foot was bare in her shoe. "I might be able to hobble though." She paused. "You look very young dressed like that, you know."

Tsuna glanced down at himself; he was wearing a borrowed hoodie that Adult Gokudera had got for him, saying it was one of Lambo's, which was green and white and didn't exactly suit him. It was also a bit big, but it fit better than Adult Gokudera's jacket that he'd ended up borrowing yesterday, which was something.

"I don't take prisoners," said a deep male voice from behind him, "so I'll make this quick."

Tsuna spun around; the older guy from outside had followed him!

"After all I can't keep my main meal, the Rain Guardian, waiting," the older guy continued, dropping slowly down towards the ground and twirling his giant Flaming scythe as he did so. This close to, Tsuna could see he _definitely_ wasn't Japanese; not with skin that shade.

Tsuna did not want to fight. However he also did _not_ want to die, especially not in some terrible Matrix-style death-game to somebody who probably wasn't even a real person! This _wasn't_ real and he _refused_ to lose a fight to a, a videogame mini-boss!

There was a puff of pink smoke in his peripheral vision. "Hahi! Tsuna, there you are!"

That did _not_ sound like Adult Haru! Glancing sideways, Tsuna saw Haru-chan, the Haru-chan he'd seen yesterday in her Midori Middle uniform when he'd asked her to help him find Reborn. Actual, _real_ Haru-chan!

Oh no!

"Where were you? Chrome-chan, Yamamoto-kun and I have been looking for you for hours! It's dinner time, hahi!" She paused. "Wait, where are we?"

Tsuna abruptly remembered the guy who'd just promised to murder them and yanked the chain off his Ring entirely, reaching for his Flames and hurriedly shoving Haru-chan aside. "Look out!"

The blast hit him in the face, launching him back and away. Tumbling through the air, Tsuna managed to catch himself before he slammed into the far wall of the factory hall and floated in mid-air for a moment to catch his breath.

"… think killing a little girl is just like cutting grass?" The enemy guy said, looking down at Haru-chan. "You don't feel a thing as they're cut down and it's over before you know it."

"What did you do to Tsuna-kun, hahi?!" Haru-chan demanded loudly, pointing an accusing finger up at the floating man, face flushed red with fury. "How dare you!"

"You've got fire," the guy said, chuckling, "but it'll be over in a second." He hefted his scythe again.

Tsuna called his Flames over both hands and propelled himself forwards at speed. He needed to rescue Haru-chan! Yes she was annoying, but he didn't want her to be _dead_!

Carrying her out of the line of fire, Tsuna quickly set her down by the wall near a door she could escape through. "Stay back please," he said hurriedly, "and let me protect you!"

"Of course Tsuna-kun!" She was blushing; oh _no_ she was going to think he was being _romantic_ how _embarrassing_.

Embarrassing was better than dead, Tsuna told himself firmly as he gathered his Will and reminded himself of the feel of Zero-Point. He had to end this fight as quickly as possible, so he wouldn't be too exhausted to escape at the end of it.

"Your Flame, its colour is the same attribute as the Sky," scythe-guy mused; "that's kinda rare, kid. But I'm not playing with you anymore. I can't leave such important prey as the Guardian of the Rain out there waiting any longer."

Scythe-guy hadn't recognised him? Okay, that was good; he wouldn't expect Tsuna to know Zero-Point or stuff like that. Dealing with the scythe itself would be tricky –and so would the rocket boots– and he still didn't know if this guy had a box like Takeshi and Mirch-san, but he'd sparred against Chrome a few times and Takeshi as well since the Ring Battles, so hopefully some of that would carry over.

Quick. He had to be quick and decisive. The fewer messy attacks, the less likely Haru-chan would get hit or that something would spill outside where the others were.

He had to be _focused_.

* * *

Tsuna sat bolt upright, trying not to panic. What had–!

"Ow ow ow!"

"Careful Tsuna! You've been injured; try not to move around too much," Takeshi said soothingly. "You're in the hideout, in the infirmary."

Tsuna blinked, rubbing his sore shoulder, then stared at his friend. His teenage friend. "Takeshi, you too?"

Takeshi scratched his head sheepishly. "Yeah, me and Chrome and Lambo and Haru; Kyoko was with us too, but I've not seen her here."

"Not I-Pin?" Tsuna tried to remember when he'd last seen I-Pin around before arriving here.

"No, she went home early."

Well that was one less person in the line of fire. Wait…

"Takeshi, if you're here, how did you fight off the guy with the rocket boots?" Takeshi couldn't use Flames like Adult Takeshi!

His friend chuckled. "Chrome protected us so I-Pin and the other girl could take him down; I felt really useless!" he admitted candidly.

"So, how _did_ you get here?" Tsuna asked; everybody might be okay so far, but this was starting to feel like a hostage situation. "Oh, and what day and time was it when you left?"

Takeshi gave him a very thoughtful look. "It's Tuesday evening, Tsuna; the day after Reborn went missing. We all split up to look after school, remember? But it was coming up towards dinnertime so we stopped looking for him and started looking for each-other, so we could all go back to your house for dinner together. But we couldn't find you, so we went on looking for another half-hour and then we were shot from behind with the bazooka." He paused. "But it looks like late morning here."

"I've been here over a day, I think," Tsuna explained, "and Reborn's been here a week and a half."

"Oh, so time's all wonky," Takeshi realised. "Well, at least Dad won't worry that I'm missing for a while."

Yeah, his mother wouldn't worry either; that was a relief. Tsuna hoped whoever was doing this didn't think to use her as a hostage too. Having his friends stuck here was bad enough!

"Reborn explained a bit about what was going on," Takeshi went on, "and how we're probably going to have to fight."

Tsuna opened his mouth to say that _nobody_ was going to _have_ to fight when the door opened to reveal Chrome and Haru. Haru was crying.

"This future world," she sobbed, "it's full of destruction!"

Chrome silently offered her a handkerchief; Tsuna wondered if it was real or Conjured. Chrome was getting very good at Conjuring things.

"It _isn't_ the future," he said firmly. "Haru, listen: this isn't real." Comforting her was more important than maintaining secrecy at this point, since they should all stick together and them being here at _all_ said there was somebody in Namimori hunting his friends. "This is a fake future; it's some kind of Matrix-like live-action game that we've all been kidnapped into, and time is running faster for us than on the outside. I've been here a day already but Takeshi says I was only missing for an hour or so. We just have to hang on until we get rescued, okay? But in the meantime we will have to play along, because otherwise we might die."

"But, but why _us_?"

"Because of the Mafia thing," Tsuna admitted unhappily. "I think the person who set this up wants to steal the Vongola's Family Rings, the ones Xanxus won in the contest we had a fortnight ago."

Haru sniffed, but looked less like she was going to break down and wail which was a relief. "Who's Xanxus?"

"He's the tall scary-looking guy with the red eyes and the feathers who showed up with all the other guys in leather," Takeshi interjected, "but he's Tsuna's cousin or something and pretty protective of him."

"He's not!" Tsuna objected. "Not protective, I mean." He was definitely Tsuna's cousin, which had been awkward to discover: Grandma's sister had married the Vongola Ninth.

"He kinda is," Takeshi countered with a wry grin: "he threatened my dad to keep an eye on you for him or else."

Tsuna squeaked. Haru giggled wetly, but she did look less upset so that was something. "So we just have to hold out for rescue?" She asked.

"Well, we _do_ have to play along with the game," Tsuna admitted, "because that's how videogames work: if you don't follow the plot, bad things happen and you die. And we might _really_ die. But the way the game is set up, only people with rings like mine" –he raised his right hand to show her– "can actually fight with Flames, so you're mostly a hostage to make sure the rest of us participate. I think."

Haru firmly wiped her tears away. "That's not nice at _all_, Tsuna-kun!" she said hotly. "I can fight!"

"I know you can!" Tsuna said quickly. She'd fought him and he remembered it vividly! "I mean, the people running this weren't planning on having you fight! The older version of you that you replaced wasn't a fighter!"

"Well _I_ am going to fight!" Haru said fiercely, turning to Chrome. "Chrome-chan, will you teach me?"

Chrome ducked her head. "Erm, I'm not sure how to get you started?" She admitted quietly, glancing at Tsuna.

Oh. So _this_ was why Adult Takeshi had explained about calling on Flames with rings and using boxes right in the middle of a fight… "Er, I can get you started?" Tsuna offered tentatively. "I mean, Takeshi too since Chrome already knows how. I can't promise you'll be strong enough to fight though; different people have different reserves." Grandma had explained that to him over the phone, while also explaining that their family had far more than most, which was why he could do such flashy moves while wasting energy all over the place without dying halfway through.

That had been _very embarrassing_ to hear. Tsuna had immediately started working very hard on using his Flames without flaring them as much after that.

"Show me then, hahi!" Haru demanded, walking into the infirmary and sitting decisively on the edge of his bed.

"Er, okay!" Tsuna looked around wildly. "Um, Takeshi, where are my trousers from earlier?" He was wearing pyjamas and bandages now, which while more comfortable meant he didn't know where his other rings were.

"Here Tsuna!" His friend tossed them at him. Tsuna tugged them off his head, fished in the pocket and pulled out the box and opened it on his lap.

"Okay, these are my personal family heirlooms," he explained seriously, "so I am just _lending_ them to you for as long as we're stuck in here, so you can defend yourself. After that I want them back, because they were personally gifted to my great-great-grandfather four hundred years ago." No need to mention that said ancestor had been the first Don Vongola…

Takeshi, Chrome and Haru all nodded immediately, understanding perfectly how important that was. "We promise," Haru agreed firmly, "don't we, hahi?" The other two nodded solemnly.

"Okay. Good." Tsuna removed the Mist Ring and gave it to Chrome. "You already know how to use this, right?"

Chrome put it on and ignited it with a quick burst of indigo. "Like this, boss?"

Tsuna blushed; Chrome calling him that was teasing him, unlike Gokudera who was upsettingly sincere. He quickly turned to Takeshi, removing the Rain Ring from the box.

"Here; put it on. Your adult counterpart said everybody has Flames and there are seven different types, and his were blue so yours probably are too."

"How do I get it to light up?" Takeshi asked.

"Resolve; you have to be really, really determined," Tsuna tried to explain. "Think about something you really, really want, more than anything else in the whole world."

Takeshi hummed. "So, like… this?" The Ring instantly lit up blue.

"Yes, like that." Tsuna heaved a sigh of relief at how straightforward that had been.

"My turn, hahi!"

Tsuna looked at her. "Er, I'm not sure which colour would work for you?" He admitted helplessly.

"Try green," Reborn suggested from the doorway. What, Haru was like Lambo?

"Green it is!" Haru neatly snatched the Lightning Ring, threaded it on her finger and scowled thunderously. A few seconds later it ignited in a shower of bright green sparks. "Yes! Take that, hahi!" She pumped a triumphant fist.

Tsuna flinched. Okay, Haru was _scary_…

"Boss?" Tsuna looked over to the door, where Adult Gokudera was standing. "I didn't find Hibari, Boss," the man went on, face blandly impassive but eyes falling to the ring box in Tsuna's lap before flicking over the other three teens in the room, "but I did find somebody else." He stepped aside, revealing–

"Kyoko-chan!" Oh _no! _No no no no no no no!

* * *

Tsuna poked disconsolately at his lunch. It was very nice –excellent in fact– but it was all Western food and he'd been hoping for something more comfortingly familiar after the morning he'd had. He might have won his fight against the scythe-wielding mini-boss, but it had been very close and he'd fainted shortly after.

"Tsuna, if you don't eat up the cooks will be distressed," Viola-san said dryly from where she was sitting opposite him. Tsuna flinched, looked down at his plate and stuffed a large piece of fish into his mouth; Viola-san was scary. Very pretty, but scary; partly because he'd just noticed she had Xanxus's eyebrows. She didn't look much like the Varia Boss otherwise –other than in general foreign-ness– so Tsuna thought she might be another cousin. She'd already demonstrated a proficiency with the same red Flames that Adult Gokudera had, so even if she was a Vongola she definitely wasn't in line to inherit the Family.

"So, who cooked this?" Kyoko-chan asked curiously. "It's very good." The food had been on the table when they all walked into the kitchen, ready to eat with no trace of who had been hard at work preparing it.

"Household spirits," Viola-san said blandly, sipping her water.

Older I-Pin giggled and Adult Gokudera rolled his eyes, but neither of them commented; a running joke maybe?

"So, who will be training with whom?" Reborn eventually asked, finishing his portion and setting his child-sized cutlery aside.

"I-Pin has agreed to tutor those of you with rings, get you through the basics," Viola-san drawled, her accent also uncomfortably similar to Xanxus's despite her voice sounding totally different, "and I have agreed to teach Lambo some useful basics." A major part of the similarity was the complete refusal to use any suffixes whatsoever, regardless of how impolite that was. Wait, what had she just said?

"Lambo?" Tsuna asked, surprised.

"Hmm," Viola agreed, purple eyes lidded over the edge of her glass. "I won't have my favourite minion getting killed before he has the chance to grow up interesting."

Tsuna choked. Favourite minion? Lambo? Who _was_ this girl?!

"Mwahaha! Lambo-sama is the greatest!" The five-year-old cackled, then squeaked as Viola-san turned to smirk at him.

"Not yet you're not," she countered calmly, "but you will be after a few lessons, I promise." Her smirk widened into a toothy and uncomfortably familiar grin. "Then once you have the basics, I-Pin can teach you to kick grown-ups' heads in."

Lambo looked dazzled. "So cool!"

Tsuna grimaced; Lambo was still all over livid red scars from his run-in with Lektor the Varia Lightning Officer. Older Lambo hadn't been though, now that he thought about it; more proof that this _wasn't_ their future, because he'd seen several Older Lambos with scars over the past year. Was the difference really just that in those futures with unscarred Lambos, Xanxus simply hadn't bothered to oppose Tsuna's ascent to Vongola Tenth? If so, why not? That felt important. Also, his Chrome looked much healthier than Adult Chrome had. Had Adult Chrome not had her organs replaced?

Adult Gokudera kept glancing at Lambo's scars too; he looked disturbed by them. Maybe it was the proof that Tsuna wasn't a younger version of _his_ Tsuna that he was finding upsetting?

"So, where did you arrive, Kyoko-chan?" Tsuna asked instead.

"I was in the graveyard," Kyoko-chan said easily, "in front of my grandparents' plot. I suppose my older self was paying her respects; Gokudera-san was there and he told me that this was the future and you were waiting for me here, so here we are!"

"It's not exactly _our_ future," Haru said quickly, "more like something the future might become. We're all stuck here for the time being though, hahi." Tsuna almost missed her sharp glance at Adult Gokudera; Haru evidently didn't trust him to have their best interests at heart.

"Would you like to learn a little self defence too, Kyoko?" Viola-san asked mildly. "It's rather dangerous around here for pretty girls and your brother would be terribly disappointed in us if you got hurt." She smiled. "Besides, if you can take care of yourself Tsuna will worry less."

Tsuna blushed scarlet. Was he _that_ transparent?

Kyoko-chan looked shocked. "Can't we resolve this without fighting?"

"No," Viola-san said simply, cutting up what remained of her rather bloody steak. "The people we are fighting want to kill Tsuna and steal his family heirlooms. If you don't fight, you will just die, or get your friends killed trying to rescue you." She paused to turn a coolly challenging stare on the other girl. "If you can't defend yourself against people who want to kill you to hurt Tsuna, you have to stay in the base. It's at least mostly safe here."

"Only mostly safe, hahi?" Haru demanded, looking worried. 'Mostly safe' wasn't very comforting…

"Nowhere anywhere is completely safe, Haru," Viola-san said dryly. "You could drown in the bath or choke on a fishbone. Or slip on the stairs and break your neck. But training will at least teach you to fall safely and notice potential hazards, as well as how to run away."

"There's a right way to run away?" Takeshi asked, looking bemused.

"Oh yes." Viola-san raised a challenging eyebrow, and that was _such_ a Xanxus expression that Tsuna had to wonder if maybe she was a close cousin of his rather than a distant one. He didn't think Xanxus had a little sister; surely somebody would have mentioned Vongola Ninth having a daughter, even if she wasn't a Sky? She was much too old to be the daughter Lancia had mentioned; she looked about I-Pin's age or possibly even older. "You have to mark your exits, have a good sense of timing, be aware of cover and know how to delay your pursuers." She turned back to look at Lambo. "Once you've got some practice I'll see how you measure up against Kyōya."

Kyōya? _Hibari_ Kyōya? She called Hibari–?!

"You know where Hibari is?" Reborn asked.

"I know how to find him," Viola-san said agreeably, "but I promised not to tell so he'd agree to spar with me regularly."

Viola-san was _very scary_! Hibari-san was, well, he was _Hibari_!

"Well, at least we know he's around here somewhere, right?" Takeshi said cheerfully. "I'm sure he'll show up next time there's a fight, he hates missing those."

Well, that _was_ true… Tsuna finished his fish and scraped his plate of vegetables. He was about to stand up and put his things in the sink when Mirch-san marched into the kitchen, looking resolute.

"I've decided," she announced, "that I'll hammer basic knowledge and fighting methods into you boys' heads."

"Ah?" Tsuna hadn't expected _that_! She'd been against it earlier after all, and privately he'd been relieved to learn from I-Pin because he at least knew her a bit. She'd never been anywhere near as bratty as Lambo and had always tried to get him to practice stances and moves with her.

"Me and Tsuna then?" Takeshi asked as Adult Gokudera got up, put his plate in the sink and stalked out of the room.

"Yes: for some reason, the enemy has sent much more powerful squads here than I anticipated," Mirch-san said grimly. "The Black Spell that you fought –if the whole squad had been there, you'd have been dead in an instant."

"Oh yes," Tsuna remembered wondering about that earlier. "What is the Black whatsit?"

Mirch-san stood at the end of the table, hands flat against the surface between Chrome and I-Pin. "The Millefiore is a merger of two separate families. The up-and-coming Gesso Family, led by Byakuran, and a Family with as much history as the Vongola: the Giglio Nero Family, led by Yuni. Those who came from the Gesso are now the White Spell, who wear white uniforms. Those who came from the Giglio Nero are now the Black Spell, and wear black uniforms."

"Right," Tsuna leaned on his Flames slightly, to make memorising the information easier. Another tutorial? Definitely important.

"Incidentally, it's said that the White Spell specialise in precision and cunning battle tactics," Mirch-san added, "whereas Black Spell have more fighters and are more directly confrontational." So the Black Spell guys would be the tougher enemies and the White Spell would be the sneaky ones. Less powerful than the Black Spell, but in videogames the tricky opponents could be harder to beat than the strong ones.

"You're being really helpful now, thanks!" Takeshi said cheerfully, getting up and clearing away all the remaining plates into the sink.

"Don't worry, if you fall behind even once I will gladly leave you behind!" Mirch-san said ruthlessly. "With me now, you two! Your first lesson will begin immediately." She then turned and left the kitchen.

"Don't worry about Chrome and Haru; I-Pin knows her stuff!" Viola-san called after Tsuna and Takeshi as they scrambled after the older woman. Tsuna was grateful for the reassurance, but he would have liked to learn alongside the other two in this. Especially since they were using his rings.

Oh well. Reborn _had_ said that Mirch-san had taught Colonnello, so she had to be _really_ good.

Hopefully no more of his friends was going to get trapped in here…

* * *

The next week passed in a blur of training for Tsuna; Mirch-san was worse than Reborn had _ever_ been and her explanations were just as incomprehensible; lots of words he didn't know and references he couldn't follow, making it hard to make sense of anything. Their only breaks were for meals and to sleep, but meals meant being able to talk to the girls and Chrome and I-Pin were actually really good at explaining things to him in ways he understood: so as long as he remembered the words Mirch-san had used, they could break it down for him and make it understandable. Viola-san sometimes volunteered an explanation when Chrome and I-Pin's attempts fell short; Tsuna rarely asked her directly, because she was really very scary even when she wasn't smiling like Xanxus.

Lambo was surprisingly happy considering he was spending so much time with Viola-san, and babbled gleefully about how he was learning to be 'super awesome!' The five-year-old bragged about what he was learning at meals, so Tsuna was learning a few things there too. Maybe he could use the 'how to run away' lessons to escape bullies when Takeshi was busy?

The only person who seemed less than happy was Kyoko-chan, which Tsuna wasn't sure what to do about. He didn't know if she was joining in and learning from Viola or I-Pin, but he remembered Onī-san saying that Kyoko hated fighting and had made him promise not to, so maybe she was uncomfortable that they might get hurt?

She never actually voiced her concerns though, so Tsuna wasn't sure what to say. He ended up saying nothing, partly because he was so focused on learning to protect his friends and use his ring properly that he didn't have much space left to think about other things, so generally only remembered about Kyoko-chan looking pale and quiet right before going to sleep at night, when it was too late to do anything about it.

He didn't see much of Adult Gokudera that week either, which was rather a relief; Tsuna really did _not_ like how the older version of his friend looked at him. It was _exactly_ like how younger Gokudera had looked at him before losing the Storm Battle to Belphegor, but creepier because Adult Gokudera was a grown man and being looked at like that by a grown-up was _terrifying_.

If Belphegor doing that to Gokudera meant Gokudera would _never_ look at Tsuna like that ever again, then Tsuna was grateful. And felt horribly guilty about it, because what Bel had done to his friend was _awful_. Gokudera was still in hospital!

Adult Gokudera showed up at meals and occasionally talked about the surveillance systems he was manning and the repairs and improvements Giannini –who was here and apparently less incompetent now– was installing, but otherwise mostly kept to himself. He sometimes mentioned training, generally while looking at Tsuna like he was hoping he would join him, but Tsuna didn't want to fight a scary older version of Gokudera who would probably be comparing him in his head to the dead older Tsuna, so he always changed the subject. Even though it made Adult Gokudera irritable and miserable.

Then on the morning of the ninth day after he'd had been hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka, while he was sitting with Adult Gokudera and Giannini in the surveillance room for a lesson on how the base's security systems worked and where Black Spell squads had been sighted outside, a really loud alarm went off.

* * *

"What's that?" Tsuna asked, looking around desperately for the source of the noise.

"It's an ally's distress signal," Adult Gokudera said briskly, bent over a keyboard and typing frantically.

"An ally?"

"Someone Vongola," Gokudera went on grimly as his hands flew across the controls. "It's a highly secure frequency, doesn't get used much so that –got it!"

The screen zoomed in on the edge of the town centre, the map dissolving to reveal surveillance camera footage of a familiar yellow bird.

"That's Hibari-san's!" Tsuna squeaked. What could _possibly_ have happened for Hibari to be calling for help?! "It's Hibird!"

"So the bird must have a signal emitter attached to it," Gokudera muttered, hands flying over the keyboard again. "Trajectory…"

"The signal's getting weaker!" Giannini exclaimed as the bird turned and left the camera view.

"Switch to radar," Gokudera muttered, pressing a button and changing the view himself as the surveillance room door burst open behind them and Chrome and Takeshi rushed in, Mirch-san at their heels.

"What's the alarm?"

"What's happened?"

"Is something the matter?"

"Big trouble!" Tsuna blurted out. "We got an SOS from Hibari-san's bird!"

"Oh, Hibird!" Chrome said brightly, indicating Haru had probably named it already back in the past.

"Where?" Mirch-san demanded.

"Seventh district currently, speed thirty-seven kilometres per hour, altitude decreasing," Giannini said worriedly as to one side Adult Gokudera continued to type furiously. "Twenty metres…"

The soft pings stopped abruptly, along with the alarm.

"Lost it!" Adult Gokudera hissed, slapping the desk with his palm. "About five metres short of Namimori Shrine."

"Why would Hibird be there?" Takeshi asked, sounding confused.

"The signal was fading right from the beginning, so the battery might have died," Gokudera replied briskly, turning in his chair to face Tsuna, "Or else somebody might have caught it and switched it off. Either way, for Hibird to be sounding an emergency alarm right through town something's definitely going down with Hibari. Or else it's a trap."

"A trap?" Tsuna bit his lip. What were they supposed to _do_?

"It's our only lead on Hibari, so we've got to do _something_," Adult Gokudera said, scowling irritably. "Bastard should check in properly according to Family protocol rather than acting like he's above it."

Giannini pressed a few more buttons, changing the display. "These are the rings presently at that location," he explained, pointing at the various coloured dots. "So that's the minimum number of enemies at that location."

Tsuna squeaked. That was a _lot_.

"See that double circle, boss?" Adult Gokudera said grimly. "That's a Captain-class ring; above A rank."

"It's probably Gamma," Mirch-san said quietly.

"I'll go then," Adult Gokudera said, getting to his feet. "I'm the only one left with experience using box weapons."

"Hey, We've been training all week too!" Takeshi said, grinning sharply, "and we've got good rings, so we should help out."

Adult Gokudera glared at Takeshi, then turned to Tsuna. "Boss, if you lend me a Storm Ring I'll be just fine."

"No," Tsuna said, trying to sound firmer than he felt. "Y-you should take somebody with you, Gokudera: w-what if you get swapped with your past self while you're out, like Takeshi, Chrome and Lambo were?"

"Fine, I'll take I-Pin," Gokudera said impatiently, getting up and looming over Tsuna. "I just need a ring and there won't be anything left of Gamma once I'm finished with him."

Tsuna steeled himself; he _wasn't_ going to hand over a ring to Adult Gokudera, not when the man could easily be an illusory fake. "No, I won't give you m-my ring," he said flatly. "Y-you're not _my_ Gokudera, I d-d-don't know you. Takeshi or Chrome should go with you."

Adult Gokudera looked stricken, then furious, then sullen. "As you say, boss," he muttered bitterly; "I'll take the baseball idiot then."

Tsuna was just opening his mouth to ask why not Chrome, who was actually better with Flames at the moment, when the door slammed open again and Haru-chan rushed in.

"Tsuna-san, big trouble!" she gasped. "Kyoko-chan is missing!"

"Have you looked everywhere?" Takeshi asked.

"Checked the toilets?" Adult Gokudera added quietly, slipping into his jacket, opening his briefcase on the surveillance desk and sliding various boxes into his pockets.

"She left a note," Haru said, visibly distressed as she produced a piece of paper. "It says, 'I need to go home, just once. I'll bring some grape sweets back for Lambo-kun too.'"

Adult Gokudera went grey, swaying on his feet. "Boss! We _have_ to find her! The Sasagawas don't live in Namimori anymore!"

Tsuna felt his stomach drop into his shoes.

* * *

Everybody expected Tsuna to make the decisions, so he'd confirmed that Adult Gokudera, Takeshi and older I-Pin would investigate the Hibird situation –carefully, while trying to avoid fights– and he would go looking for Kyoko-chan with Mirch-san and Chrome. Mirch-san because she had experience in this time and Chrome for her illusions, which would make it easier for them to avoid notice in town and bring Kyoko-chan back even if she didn't want to come. Which was uncomfortable, but Tsuna would rather have Kyoko-chan be angry with him than kidnapped by enemies or dead.

Adult Gokudera and I-Pin both had communication devices, so they could stay in touch with the base, but Takeshi and Lambo's had vanished with their older selves and Adult Chrome hadn't had one, so they couldn't keep in touch with each-other.

Tsuna took a moment to find Viola-san and tell her where everybody was going, as well as to ask her to make sure Lambo was okay. The foreign girl had sighed irritably, eyes going flat in a very Xanxus-like fashion as she declared Kyoko-chan to be a selfish twit, but she did agree to look after things at the base and to make sure the infirmary was well-stocked for their return.

Which wasn't massively optimistic of her, but Tsuna could accept that. Her being mean to Kyoko-chan was harder to accept, but going out _was_ very unwise. Especially when he'd _explained_ why it was important not to!

As they left, Tsuna thought of something he should probably ask Mirch-san: "I-if Kyoko-chan has been captured, what should I do?"

"You're still recovering," Mirch-san said bluntly, "and while you are better than you were, you still don't have sufficient training to be able to afford facing your enemies just yet. But if you _do_ get into a fight, I'm afraid I won't be able to step in." She paused. "My advice is, make sure you are wearing your ring and go into Hyper-Mode."

Okay. Tsuna could do that.

"I'll be right behind you, boss," Chrome added quietly. "I'll focus on recovering Kyoko-chan, so you can just fight."

"Thank you, Chrome." That was encouraging to know.

* * *

As Adult Gokudera had said, the Sasagawa house had different people living in it. However there were still mafia-looking people in black suits standing around outside it, talking to neighbours and one of the new inhabitants. Kyoko-chan wasn't there though, which was a relief.

"W-where do we check now?" Tsuna asked quietly.

"We could try Hana-chan's house," Chrome offered softly. "If Kyoko-chan came here and realised her parents didn't live here anymore, she would try her friend's house next."

Tsuna had no idea where Kurokawa-chan lived. "Lead on then," he said, glancing at Mirch-san to see what she thought of this plan. She seemed fine with it, so they set off.

It wasn't very far to Kurokawa-chan's house and there wasn't anybody hanging around outside, so Tsuna rang the bell while Chrome made sure nobody noticed them and Mirch-san stood quietly to one side.

The door was yanked open by Kurokawa-chan; _teenage_ Kurokawa-chan. "Sawada! I just _know_ this is your fault somehow!"

Tsuna squeaked. "I'm sorry! Is, is Kyoko-chan–"

"She's here and safe," Kurokawa-chan interrupted briskly, stepping back and waving them inside, "and I'm coming with you! I spent half this morning being questioned about you and Kyoko-chan, then I got hit in the back on my way into school at lunchtime and found myself in this weird place, so I'm not about to let _either_ of you out of my sight!"

"Qu-questioned?" Tsuna asked, quickly taking off his shoes.

"An older man who said he was your great-uncle, two self-proclaimed cousins and another man who called himself 'Clown' of all things," Kurokawa-chan said irritably. "How many foreign relatives do you _have_, Sawada!"

Tsuna flushed. "Erm, lots?" he ventured weakly. "Grandma had two sisters and three brothers, and they all had at least three children each, and those children are our parents' ages so most of _them_ have children too. I've got more than twenty-five second cousins." That had been an overwhelming conversation, but thankfully one he and Grandma had had in person while she was visiting. She'd since posted him a stripped-down family tree and some photos but there were a _lot_ of names; he was trying to memorise them but it was slow-going.

It didn't help that Xanxus was one of those second cousins, if only by technicality since Grandma's sister had married the Vongola Ninth but died about forty years ago; clearly the man had remarried at some point, to have another son –no wait, Xanxus had said he was a bastard. Well, Vongola Ninth might still have remarried; just not to Xanxus's mother. It was uncomfortable to realise that the three dead heirs Reborn had talked about when he first showed up had been family. Not close, but still family. Closer than Vongola Ninth was; that was more like fifth cousins four times removed on his grandfather's side or something, which barely counted at all.

Kurokawa-chan looked like she'd not expected that answer. "Well," she managed, "okay then. At least they care. Still, I'm _definitely_ coming with you, so please wait while I pack. Kyoko-chan's borrowing some of my clothes too, so it shouldn't take us very long." Glancing at Mirch-san, she seemed to remember her manners. "Would you like some tea?"

"I'll make the tea, Hana-chan," Chrome said quietly. "You go pack; we don't want to linger here."

"Empty the fridge too; there's no point leaving it all to go off," Kurokawa-chan replied, then vanished upstairs at a run.

Tsuna helped Chrome pack the contents of the fridge into some cool bags –assisted by Mist Flames to make everything fit– and Mirch-san raided the cupboards for good measure, packing into shopping bags everything that had a use-by date inside the next two months. That seemed a bit excessive to Tsuna, but he wasn't going to complain. Hopefully they wouldn't be here in two months' time since the Alliata were definitely looking for him now, but there weren't any guarantees. How had they arrived in Japan so quickly though? Going by what Hana-chan had said he'd not even been missing a full _day_ yet, despite being here over a week.

Reborn had been missing almost exactly twenty-four hours when Tsuna arrived here, and Reborn said he'd been here ten days. If that stayed the same, then ten days here were the same as one day at home. It would take a few more days at _least_ for people to find whoever was doing this, which meant they'd probably be stuck here for another month. Possibly a month and a half.

That was a _lot_ of time for things to go wrong in.

Tsuna was helping Chrome to clean the kitchen surfaces so no mould grew while Kurokawa-chan was away when Mirch-san turned to lean out of the window. "Tsunayoshi, you should see this," she said grimly. Hurrying over, Tsuna peered through the glass.

"B-but, that's Namimori Shrine!" There was smoke rising from the hill, two distinct plumes coming up through the trees. Something bad had to have happened!

"What are you going to do about it?" Mirch-san asked challengingly.

Tsuna tried to think. "Chrome, you stay with Kurokawa-chan and Kyoko-chan; all of you carrying bags and heading out together can pretend you're going for a sleepover or something," he improvised desperately, "and your illusions can make sure nobody recognises you on your way to the entrance. Mirch-san and I will head up to the Shrine; we'll meet up again back at the base."

"Yes boss," Chrome agreed, lips firming as she nodded decisively. "Take care."

"I promise." Tsuna quickly put his shoes back on and headed out of the house with Mirch-san, having to make an effort not to run and draw attention to himself. What had happened to Takeshi and the others? Had they run into Gamma? Were they okay?

* * *

Tsuna was uncomfortably aware of how excruciatingly slow it was getting up to Namimori Shrine without drawing attention from the many Black Spell people in the area. Well, Mirch-san said they were Black Spell; they just look like regular mafiosi in suits to him. Was there any difference? Or were all the suit-wearing people around here Black Spell, and that was how Mirch-san knew? He'd not seen any White Spell people yet that he knew of, and if he had, would he be able to tell the difference?

They could move a little quicker once they were into the woods, since there were fewer people about, but they also had to be even quieter and stealthier because their being in the woods at all would be a dead giveaway if anybody saw them.

The distant crashes and splintering noises drifting down on the breeze really were not _remotely_ comforting, and neither were the crackling explosions. Those sounded like lightning strikes!

Tsuna wanted to ignite his Flames and blast his way up, but that would make everybody notice him and he couldn't help his friends if everybody was attacking him before he found them. So he had to run uphill and not trip over in the undergrowth and duck behind rocks and bushes to avoid random wandering Black Spell members patrolling the perimeter.

He reached the top of the hill and pushed through the bushes just in time to see a blond man impaled on the side of a gigantic spiked ball floating in the air and Hibari-san –ten years older but _very definitely_ Hibari-san– charging the stranger with tonfas drawn.

"That's!" Tsuna squeaked.

"You two are really late," Hibari-san commented as he leapt up towards his pinned victim.

Hibari-san's strikes shoved his opponent backwards, pushing his body up the spikes and forcing multiple large holes in his body. Tsuna quickly looked away and closed his eyes, breathing shallowly and trying not to throw up. Yes, he'd seen blood before –this wasn't anywhere near as gory as finding Gokudera after Bel finished with him had been– but he'd never seen anybody _impaled_ before and the smell was _awful_, blood mixing with the sickly sweet scent of rot and something acidic, along with the pungent odour of human waste.

The blond guy was dead. Very definitely, permanently, messily dead.

Tsuna shakily opened his eyes to the sound of Hibari-san's feet hitting the ground; the spiked ball was gone –a box weapon maybe, like scythe-guy's circular saw blades?– and the corpse hit the ground with a thump.

Hibari-san turned. "What have you been up to, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, relieved beyond words that the Cloud –because now he knew more about Flames he knew that Hibari-san was most _definitely_ a Cloud– was still ruthlessly trouncing all enemies who came his way regardless of how scary they were. Everybody else's future selves had changed in variously uncomfortable ways, but Hibari-san was exactly as he'd ever been.

"Yamamoto Takeshi and Gokudera Hayato are in the forest over there with I-Pin," Hibari-san continued, which was more words from him than Tsuna had ever heard at once. He –wait, Takeshi, Gokudera and I-Pin!

Dashing off, Tsuna skidded to a stop barely a metre past the tree line, gaping in horror at the blood and crumpled bodies at the far end of the wide gouge carved in the hillside.

I-Pin was the only one conscious; she had one arm in a sling made of somebody's jacket and some nasty bruises on her face, and was sitting with her back against a snapped-off tree stump, a visible lump on her head and one foot propped up on a rock, the shoe bloody.

Gokudera was _his_ Gokudera, young and horribly pale with bright red scars standing out against his skin, wearing only a hospital gown. His legs and hands were bandaged and confined by metal braces, and he was lying on his side with his spine curved backwards, like he'd got a cramp or a muscle spasm. It looked horribly painful, but so far as Tsuna could see he'd not picked up any new injuries since arriving.

Whoever it was sending people here had snuck into Namimori Hospital and shot Gokudera as he lay helpless in bed. Tsuna could see the bleeding pinpricks on his arms where the IVs had been. That was just..! Gokudera had been very visibly in _no shape whatsoever_ for fighting and they'd sent him here anyway!

Takeshi was worse though. Tsuna recognised guiltily that he was focusing on Gokudera because Takeshi looked _so much worse_. He had electrical burns –Tsuna had _nightmares_ about electrical burns now, he could recognise them anywhere– swollen purple-red bruises on his face and chest and his hands were twisted and swollen so badly they looked _mangled_.

"Takeshi!"

"It's all right, their lives are not in danger," the suited man kneeling beside Takeshi said, glancing up at Tsuna. Tsuna tried to focus on the vaguely familiar guy's face, but was mostly distracted by the _huge_ pompadour. It had to be thirty centimetres long! How much hair gel did he use?

"Ah, you're…" Tsuna trailed off, not being able to think of a name.

"Kusakabe Tetsuya, Hibari's subordinate," pompadour-guy volunteered easily, the grass stem he was chewing bouncing on his lower lip as he talked.

Oh, the assistant head of the Disciplinary Committee. That made… sort of sideways sense? More sense than a lot of other videogame things, anyway.

"Still, we need to get them treated quickly," Kusakabe-san added, getting to his feet; "let's take them to the hideout."

"Too far to carry them," I-Pin pointed out, "and I can't walk either, sorry boss. My foot's broken and I need the bones setting."

"Don't worry about that," Kusakabe-san said comfortably, "we will be using our own entrance."

Tsuna turned around as he heard a weird pinging noise, just in time to see Adult Hibari-san walk _through_ the side of the shrine and disappear.

"However, there is a problem with us taking our leave from here," Kusakabe-san admitted. "The Vongola Rain Ring. It will have shown up on the enemy's radar by now. We can't let the signal disappear from here."

Tsuna bit his lip and looked across the clearing. "Mirch-san, would you?" He needed to stay with Takeshi and the others.

His tutor nodded. "I understand. Leave this matter to me." She took the ring from Kusakabe-san's outstretched palm and vanished back into the trees, probably back towards the town centre. Tsuna assumed she had a spare chain, since she hadn't bothered to grab Takeshi's.

"So, what happened?" Tsuna asked I-Pin as she threw an arm across his shoulders, leaning on him as they hobbled together through the hidden door. Kusakabe-san had Takeshi slung over one shoulder and Gokudera cradled in his arms; it looked awkward, but Gokudera's various injuries meant it was the only safe way to move him.

I-Pin ducked her head. "We made it up this far when Gamma ambushed us," she admitted softly. "Takeshi-kun and I engaged at close range, while Gokudera-san covered us from long range. Takeshi and I both got in solid hits –it looked like his nearly cut Gamma in half– and we got overconfident and thought that was it. But one of Gamma's box foxes bit my foot and then he came at me from behind and threw me into a tree. It took a little while to come back from that, but Takeshi-kun and Gokudera-san were holding him off fairly well until there was a puff of pink smoke and Gokudera-san was replaced by his younger self, who screamed, collapsed and passed out." The Chinese girl grimaced as they tottered carefully down the steps to the underground base. Yet another underground base; clearly this was a theme. "I think it was a muscle spasm or his injuries being jarred from the abrupt change in situation, and he wasn't expecting it so the pain made him lose his balance. Gokudera-kun hit his head hard on a rock as he hit the ground and that was that; Takeshi-kun went from having a partner to needing to protect a target and Gamma overwhelmed him in short order."

That was truly _terrible_ timing.

"Then Gamma demanded Takeshi-kun tell him about you, since Takeshi had reminded Gokudera-san that your orders had been to avoid fighting if possible so we should retreat while we thought Gamma was incapacitated, and he refused." I-Pin looked at him solemnly. "So Gamma started torturing Takeshi-kun, to make him talk."

Tsuna flinched. This was all his fault. Death clearly _wasn't_ the worst thing that could happen in here.

"I tried to intervene, but he broke my arm and threw me into another tree, and I must have passed out because when I woke up again Takeshi-kun was on the ground and Hibari-san was fighting Gamma," I-Pin concluded. "Sorry for not being very helpful."

"I-Pin, you did _amazingly_ well," Tsuna said sincerely. "You were th-there and you did everything you could. It isn't your fault somebody is replacing the Vongola's best fighters with mostly-untrained teenagers. You nearly won!"

"Nearly isn't good enough though," I-Pin muttered sadly. "Master would be very disappointed in my performance."

"How much training do you have with Flames, I-Pin?"

"I can control my own," I-Pin admitted, "but I never pursued it; I'm a martial artist."

That utter disinterest seemed very unlikely to Tsuna, but presumably it was a videogame mechanic. Narrow specialties to make fights more interesting, maybe? "Well, you can learn more now, can't you?" he pointed out. "After all, if you can defend against your enemy's Flames, then you can then beat them up without them being able to blast you from a distance."

I-Pin smiled. "Thank you, boss. I promise I will do my best!"

"I know you will I-Pin." Tsuna looked around. "Where are we anyway?"

"This is one of our Japanese research institutes," Kusakabe-san replied.

"Research?" Tsuna couldn't quite fit 'research' and 'Hibari-san' into the same mental space.

"Various things are ongoing simultaneously," Kusakabe-san said vaguely. "Here we are, look over there."

Tsuna turned, and gaped at the sight of Reborn in his ridiculous outfit standing in a doorway. How?

"Ciaossu."

"Why is Reborn here?" Tsuna asked, baffled. The hitman had _said_ he couldn't leave the Vongola hideout!

"Our institute is connected to your hideout," Kusakabe admitted. "But there is a strict no trespassing rule, so this door has never been opened before." He sighed. "Though Viola-san keeps on getting in despite that; I have no idea how she does it and she refuses to say."

Oh, so _that_ was how Viola-san was managing to have spars with Hibari-san!

"Because Hibari hates crowds," Reborn surmised. "Typical of him."

This was a familiar corridor, so at least it wasn't a long way further to the infirmary; Tsuna hoped Viola would be able to do something about everybody's injuries. Gokudera probably wouldn't be recovering any time soon since he needed a lot of physiotherapy, but hopefully Takeshi's hands were more fixable. If his friend wasn't able to hold a sword or baseball bat again Tsuna would _never_ forgive himself.

* * *

Half an hour later, Tsuna perched on one of the sofas in the European-style sitting room, nursing a black eye and glancing from Kusakabe-san sat next to him to Bianchi-san and Fuuta opposite, who had both arrived just as Viola kicked him out of the infirmary. The older teenager had grumbled about how she was 'not trained as a healer, damn it,' but had nonetheless promised to do her best and demanded permission to make a few calls, so that she could get second opinions from people who actually knew what they were doing.

Tsuna had given her permission to call anybody at all she considered appropriate, then been booted out of the room for 'fussing' and had collided with the newly-arrived Bianchi-san and Fuuta. There'd been a lot of confusion there, most of it very loud, which had resulted in Hibari-san showing up and biting everybody to death in short order then leaving again.

Kusakabe-san had stuck around, sharing that Hibari-san had information for them but since he had left, it was up to the taller man to share it.

So here they were: Tsuna and Kusakabe-san opposite Fuuta and Giannini on the sofas, with Mirch-san and Bianchi-san on chairs, Bianchi-san cuddling Reborn in her lap. Haru-chan wasn't here and neither were Chrome and the other girls; Tsuna assumed they weren't back yet. Or maybe they were settling Kurokawa into the dormitory they'd claimed; either way, nobody had said anything was wrong so he was going to assume there weren't any problems there.

"Let me start with Hibird," Kusakabe-san said calmly. "We set it in flight in response to a request for aid from Kurokawa Hana."

"Kurokawa-chan?" She'd called for help? How had she known to do that, when she didn't know anything about the mafia? Or even where she was? Had there been instructions in her house or something?

"That's right," Kusakabe-san agreed, "she requested our help. When we receive an SOS call from specific pre-arranged Vongola channels, we release Hibird to fly to the scene."

"That's unusual." Tsuna couldn't think why anybody would do that.

"It's a backup system for sending a distress signal," Mirch-san informed him dryly.

"Yes, that's right," Kusakabe-san agreed. "When normal communication methods are cut off, we use this. It's one of over ten backup methods we have for sending an SOS."

"So why did the distress signal end at the shrine?" Giannini asked.

Kusakabe-san hunched slightly. "That's a little embarrassing," he muttered; "the contact point with the battery was faulty."

So it really _had_ been a malfunction… well, _officially_ a malfunction. Things malfunctioning like that could be a game mechanic to ensure they didn't spend all their time in the base and ended up in fights. Gamma being _right there_ where Hibird's signal had shorted out was rather unlikely, after all.

"So, what does your organisation do?" Reborn asked.

"In short, we're a secret underground foundation formed from the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori Middle School."

"You're still connected to the Disciplinary Committee!?" Hibari-san would have graduated over _seven years ago_ and he was still doing that?!

"I've heard about them from Tsuna-nii too," Fuuta agreed. "Hibari-san has been travelling all over the world to research and investigate the boxes under the name of the Foundation."

"The boxes?" Tsuna asked curiously. This sounded like another exposition cue…

"Please ask Hibari directly for anymore on that," Kusakabe-san said quietly. "Hibari intends to stay around for a while."

Oh. Yes; Hibari-san had showed up wanting to talk to him, but Bianchi-san fussing over the unconscious Gokudera and Fuuta trying to talk had swiftly irritated him to the point he bit everybody to death and left. He'd have to find Hibari-san later, when it was quieter and he'd calmed down a bit, to get that exposition.

"Really? That's very reassuring," Tsuna said brightly, hoping that was the right thing to say at this point.

"That's all I have to report," Kusakabe-san concluded.

"Then it's our turn," Bianchi-san said; evidently there was more exposition to come.

"We've been gathering information on the Millefiore stationed in Japan," Fuuta continued. "The Millefiore have a total of seventeen squads, but among them there are only six captains who rank A or higher."

Okay, so every squad had a captain, but there were only six captains who were really strong. Tsuna coaxed up his Flames to make memorizing the details easier.

"Furthermore, out of the six, two are currently in Japan."

"That much have been Gamma and Irie Shōichi," Mirch-san said. "Just Irie, now."

"That's right," Fuuta agreed, "It's definitely unusual; something crucial here has caught their attention. What it is is still a mystery though."

"I-Irie?" Tsuna repeated, recognising the name and feeling a whiff of impending doom. "Irie Shōichi? Is he from Namimori?"

"Yes, he is," Fuuta agreed, turning to look at Tsuna. "He was in the same school year as Tsuna-nii, but attended Yumei Private Middle School. His parents are Irie Masatsuko and Irie Ume and he has an older sister called Akiko, who is married to Taniguchi Takeshi."

There was a Taniguchi in Tsuna's class, but Tsuna didn't think his name was Takeshi despite there being two other Takeshi in their class as well as his friend. An older sibling or cousin maybe?

Tsuna bit his lip; this _wasn't_ real. All the people here were fake. It wasn't _really_ his cousin who had joined the Millefiore, just a character based on him. Whoever had done that clearly didn't know that Irie Shōichi's mother had been a Sawada before she married, or that Tsuna knew he was family. If they had known that, then Irie-san would be _in_ the Vongola, not part of the enemy trying to destroy them.

"We also have good news!" Bianchi-san added brightly. "We've located the entrance to the enemy's hideout!"

"The enemy's hideout?" Tsuna repeated; even with Gamma dead his cousin would be there, and Fuuta had said that Shōichi was one of the Millefiore's few captains who was A-ranked or higher.

"It was right under our noses and we missed it," Fuuta agreed ruefully. "Like us, they're underneath Namimori: it's the Namimori station underground shopping mall."

"Th-the station has an underground?" Tsuna asked; he'd never noticed it!

"Construction began ten years ago and was completed three years ago," Fuuta explained.

Oh. Yes! Haru-chan had mentioned that while they were looking for Reborn. Wait, did that mean the Millefiore were already plotting to attack the Vongola in the present? Or was it that this horrible game had built on the fact that construction work was already in progress and stuck the base there for drama?

He wouldn't be able to find out until they escaped, but it was something to consider…

"This information is highly significant," Mirch-san said seriously. "With it we can carry out an attack."

"Attack? Bu-but, everybody's still injured!" Tsuna squeaked.

"Indeed, in our current condition we have no chance of success," Reborn said flatly. "However, the enemy must also be trying their best to locate us and finish us off. In other words, it's a race to see which side can position themselves to attack first. Therefore, the key to victory lies in how much stronger you all can become in as little time as possible."

Tsuna swallowed hard. Gokudera wouldn't be ready either way, but Takeshi might be. He hoped; he _really_ didn't want to be storming an enemy base, fighting various mini-bosses and possibly even an actual boss with just Chrome and Haru beside him.

* * *

Tsuna had no idea how Viola-san had done it, but the bones in Takeshi's hands were completely mended by the following morning and the bruising had faded enough that he could hold his chopsticks without fumbling them. The cuts on his face had also healed up, leaving behind fading scars, and the other bruises had gone down almost completely.

I-Pin's foot and arm were also fully mended, although the bruise on her head still looked very sore despite the swelling having gone down. Was this another videogame thing?

"No physical training today or tomorrow," the plum-eyed Storm said firmly, glaring at them both over her natto, "and no over-straining your Flame reserves, either of you; work on tactics and strategy or something."

"How's Gokudera?" Tsuna asked hopefully. She'd somehow mended all their broken bones overnight, so maybe his other friend would be up and about soon as well?

Viola-san huffed. "Gokudera's wounds were already healed," she said shortly; "his problem is that the scar tissue needs stretching so he can recover his mobility, along with countering the muscle wasting from his extended hospitalisation. He needs to move," she elaborated patiently in the face of Tsuna's confusion, "but moving hurts and is very tiring. However if he doesn't move or is impatient and pushes himself too hard, he'll cripple himself. So I have to make him move regularly, which is acutely painful, and I have to do it carefully and gradually so none of his scars tear. Like," she hummed, "like learning to do gymnastics. To begin with your muscles can't stretch very far, but with practice and determination you gradually improve. However doing too much at once would tear your muscles and be seriously damaging."

Okay, that made sense. "Thank you, Viola-san," Tsuna said sincerely. "I'm sorry if he's been rude to you."

Viola-san snorted. "He's a whiney little bitch," she said dryly, "and you need to go tell him what's going on, because he doesn't believe me. Maybe once he knows the risks he'll stop fighting me every step of the way."

Tsuna guessed Viola-san meant that Gokudera refused to believe this was 'the future' and thought he'd been kidnapped or something. He wasn't sure his friend _wanted _to talk to him, but he should try. If only so he could tell Viola-san he'd tried. She was scary and he didn't want to cross her. "I'll talk to him after breakfast," he promised.

"Good; I'm going to go spar with Kyōya this morning," Viola-san announced. "Lambo, you're showing Lal how much you've improved and if she agrees you're making good progress, I'll take you to challenge Kyōya this afternoon."

"Yaay! Lambo-sama is the greatest!" the five-year-old crowed, bouncing excitedly in his seat even as Tsuna wheezed in shock. Just when he thought he was finally getting used to Viola-san she reminded him of just how scary she was! It wasn't fair!

* * *

On dropping by the infirmary, Tsuna discovered Gokudera wriggling and cursing loudly, but seemingly unable to get out of the bed.

"Tenth!" he exclaimed as soon as he noticed Tsuna. "Did the harpy kidnap you too? I'm going to kill her!"

Tsuna wanted very much to pinch the bridge of his nose like Xanxus had done after Tsuna told him about how Reborn wasn't really teaching him anything useful. "Gokudera, we were both shot with the Ten-Year Bazooka," he said firmly, "and so were Reborn and Takeshi and Chrome and Kyoko-chan and Lambo and Haru-chan and Kurokawa-chan. Except whoever stole it from Lambo must have tampered with it, since I've been here over a week now but Kurokawa-chan said I've only been missing at home for a day." Telling his friend not to call him 'Tenth' would be unhelpful at this point; at least Gokudera _was_ talking to him now.

"The harpy kidnapped the baseball idiot too?!"

Tsuna sighed. "No, Gokudera: Viola-san is our _ally_. She's Vongola; I think she's Xanxus's cousin or something, they have the same eyebrows and she talks like he does. Our enemies here are the Millefiore Family, who are formed from the former Gesso Family and the former Giglio Nero Family." He was secretly proud of himself for remembering that.

Gokudera stilled. "The Giglio Nero? Really?"

Oh, he'd heard of them? "Their boss is called Yuni," Tsuna said, hoping for more details.

"Last I knew the Giglio Nero boss was called Aria," Gokudera admitted, "but I did hear she got married last year. They're an old Family like the Vongola, but much less influential. All I know about them is that they're matrilineal and another Sky bloodline."

Wouldn't that mean that the Giglio Nero boss was a child, if her mother had only married eleven years before now? Well, that did fit the general videogame weirdness; how old was Byakuran then?

"And I've never heard of the Gesso," Gokudera continued, levering himself gingerly into a sitting position using his elbows, "so they must be new. Probably have a lot of money; that way the Giglio Nero get funds out of their alliance and the Gesso get connections and influence."

"Your older self was helping out," Tsuna said, not mentioning that his own counterpart had been Vongola boss, "but you got swapped with him during a fight. His stuff is there," he pointed at the briefcase lying on the bedside cabinet. "I needed to ask him some questions, but I didn't get a chance." Looking back, Tsuna was pretty sure Adult Gokudera had had some exposition for him, but his reluctance to be alone with the man who looked at him like he'd hung the moon meant he'd missed it. Hopefully he'd left clues, but if not they might really be in trouble.

Gokudera dragged the briefcase onto his lap using the heels of his palms and fumbled the lock open. "There're some letters in here," he muttered, bending over the contents, "written in G script? Hm…"

"I have to go train," Tsuna said quickly –Mirch-san had only given him fifteen minutes– "but I'll visit at lunchtime! Please cooperate with Viola-san, she's in charge of helping you recover. Oh, and the ten-years-later version of your sister is here too, so watch out for her!"

"Nee-san's here?!" Gokudera sat bolt upright, face greyish white.

"Viola-san locked her out of the infirmary so you're safe for now," Tsuna added hurriedly, "but she really wants to visit so you should probably explain things to Viola-san if you want that to continue. Sorry!" He dashed out the door; if he didn't arrive in time, Mirch-san might refuse to train him any further!

* * *

Five days after Gokudera's arrival, Chrome pulled Tsuna aside after lunch. "Boss?"

"What is it, Chrome-chan?"

"It's Mukuro-sama," the girl said seriously.

Tsuna paused. "Um, he isn't _our _Mukuro, is he?"

"No, he's older," Chrome replied quickly, "it's just, well," she bit her lip, "He's still in prison."

"Oh." Tsuna frowned. "But, since back home Xanxus was confident he could get Mukuro out in a few months, shouldn't the Tsuna here have known he could get Mukuro out and done it ages ago? I mean, since he became the Vongola Boss?" The fake older Tsuna had actually been Decimo, so surely it would have been easy for him. Chrome had said that Xanxus was going to pay for Mukuro's release and as a mafia boss, the older him would have had more than enough money, right?

"I don't think he even tried," Chrome said quietly. "He didn't try to get new organs for the older me either; Mukuro-sama was very surprised that I didn't need illusions to keep me alive."

So the older Chrome _hadn't_ been as healthy as his Chrome. "Is he willing to help us win, so we can go home?" Because that was the sticking point; Mukuro _would_ do whatever he wanted to. If he wanted to help they could really benefit, but if he didn't they'd just have to make do without him.

"He dislikes the idea of being a game character," Chrome admitted softly, "but he very much wants Byakuran to lose. So he will help us, even if it means he will stop existing afterwards."

"Thank you," Tsuna said gratefully. "You know the plan so far and once we decide anything more you'll know that too, so anything he can do to help us or sabotage our enemy would be great." Giving orders would be pointless when he barely knew what he was doing anyway, and as a lifelong inhabitant of this game world the older Mukuro would have a much better idea of what needed doing that Tsuna did.

"Tsuna? Where are you? We're starting again in five minutes!"

"See you at dinner bye!" Tsuna blurted out, dashing out into the corridor towards Takeshi's voice. If he was late Mirch-san might stop training him!

* * *

Two weeks after Gokudera's arrival there had been no more unexpected swaps, but they also hadn't been rescued yet. Going by the timescale established by Reborn –ten days here to one day in real life– he'd been missing for three whole days; not really very long. Knowing that Grandma had sent members of her extended family to look for him after less than a single day was most of what was letting Tsuna stay calm: this wasn't permanent. They would get out, even if they didn't play this game to the end.

Then Lal Mirch informed him she wouldn't be training him anymore.

"You are progressing," she admitted candidly, "but you have not attained the level I expected of you. I've realised you will not improve as much as I was hoping in the time we have."

This felt like those montages right before the hero got dumped in a dungeon or thrown to wild animals; evidently he wasn't levelling up fast enough so now he got extra difficulty levels as a penalty.

"But this is all the strength I have," He protested. He _was_ doing well! He was _so_ _much_ _better_ with his Flames now! He could summon them with _and_ without his Ring, and do all the things Mirch-san expected of him! He'd only been training _properly_ for a month at most, so he was doing _really_ well, considering!

"Your power is far greater than this!" Mirch-san snapped. Tsuna opened his mouth to protest, then launched himself into the air to avoid the attack headed his way from one side, landing on the wall near the ceiling. The projectile swerved towards him, picking up speed; options flickered through his brain.

Purple. It was purple; running from purple had never done him any good.

Twisting his Harmony so he could stand on the wall like he'd seen Xanxus do, Tsuna reached out both hands and shaped his Flamed into a shield. Harmony made his Flames 'sticky' and a downside of that stickiness was that other Box Weapons could feed themselves on his Flames. He'd had to learn to make his Flames harder, to rein in the Harmony and make his Flames only resonate with him and with themselves, so he could fend off attacks without wasting his strength.

The projectile hammered into his shield and stuck there, a small ball of pointy spikes. A _familiar_ ball of spikes.

"If you don't pay attention, you will die," came Hibari-san's almost conversational tones from down below; the fake-Hibari-san was far wordier than the real one.

Tsuna was still glad to see him though; he still needed to get that exposition and this seemed like a setup for that.

"I'm going to pry open all of your abilities," the Cloud continued ominously as the spiked ball kept shoving against Tsuna's shield. Tsuna tried to push it away, but it was stuck fast and the pressure was increasing. "Exactly as the baby said; this level of power is a far cry from your future self."

Tsuna felt a twinge of annoyance; well his future self had _an extra ten years of training_ so of course he was better! Besides, his so-called 'future self' not only wasn't actually _him_ but also was _dead_ so what good had being stronger done him? None at all, clearly. This was a _stupid_ live-action _game_ he'd been shoved into and now the characters were complaining he wasn't as good as the game's designer thought a ten-years-older Tsuna should be! How _stupid_ was _that_?

The stupid spiky thing was still pressing against him; did he use ice? Xanxus had said his ice wasn't safe and had proved it by reversing it over him; better not to then.

Instead Tsuna widened his shield and wrapped it around the spiked ball, then pivoted up off the wall onto the covered ball; it immediately tried to follow him, which rocketed it upwards. Tsuna slid over his Flames and around underneath it as it crunched into the ceiling. He quickly used his Flames to 'Harmonise' it with the ceiling, binding it in place.

Purple clouds around him; another attack!

Letting go of the Flames encasing the very stuck spiked ball Tsuna dropped, crushing his own Flames down inside him in an attempt to dodge the attack. He'd noticed a lot of Box Weapons homed in on Flames and him not using his made him harder to track, so he was getting better at switching them on and off again.

Unfortunately he wasn't quite fast enough this time and everything went black. There was a moment of weightlessness –falling– followed by a jarring impact.

"This is the globe of needles form," Hibari-san said, voice muffled by the sphere. "It's an airtight sphere moulded with Cloud Flames, making it completely impervious. You cannot break through with your physical strength or your Flames."

That… wasn't true. The thing about Flames –the thing he'd learned from watching the Varia and listening to what they said when they chatted amongst themselves in a language he understood– was that things were only impossible if you _decided_ they were. So Hibari-san might have decided this sphere was impervious, but it would only _stay_ impervious if his Will for its imperviousness was stronger than Tsuna's Will to break it.

Tsuna had a healthy respect for Hibari-san's strength of Will though.

"It's airtight, so the oxygen within the sphere is limited." Tsuna was glad he'd extinguished his Flames already, even though the landing had been a bit bumpy. "If you don't get out quickly, you will die."

"Why're you trying to kill Tsuna?" That was Takeshi.

"The weak will be buried; that's a given. Even if I had a reason to kill Sawada Tsunayoshi to begin with, there is no reason why I should let him live either."

This was a side-quest, Tsuna realised dimly. He had to earn Adult Hibari-san's respect. To do that he had to break out of this sphere, and to do _that_ he had to overpower Hibari-san's Will. He had to prove he was stronger than Hibari-san.

He didn't feel stronger than Hibari-san.

"We should begin our training too," Reborn said, words muffled but his cheer undimmed. Tsuna didn't think that was fair; he was stuck! He was going to die in here! Adult Tsuna might be stronger than Adult Hibari but _he_ wasn't!

"Hibari is serious," Takeshi said quietly, voice barely audible.

"I know he is. That's why it has to be Hibari."

What?

"Every generation, the Boss has to overcome the Vongola Trial. The Trial cannot be compromised, so a genuine threat is necessary."

But, but he _wasn't_ the boss! He _didn't have_ the Vongola Rings! This wasn't fair! Reborn _knew_ he didn't have the Rings, even! He was going to die and it _wasn't fair_!

Well, just hitting the stupid sphere wasn't going to work; hitting Hibari never worked and this was Hibari's Box Weapon. As Xanxus had proved, sometimes the best way to win was to bend the rules or think past them. So what did he know? He knew the sphere stopped air getting in or out, so there weren't any holes in it. He also knew it was made of Flames, or at least that the Cloud Flames made it impervious.

Chrome had said that Xanxus had warned her off touching him when he'd been frozen in Zero-Point Breakthrough, because the ice would leech her Flames. If he used Zero-Point against the sphere, could he leech away its Flames?

Well it was worth a try; later though. If he froze himself by accident nobody here would be able to defrost him and that would be _really_ bad.

Wait, did he _really_ need more Will than Hibari or did he just need tighter focus? The sphere was fairly big; Tsuna just needed to poke one little hole in it. The smaller the better, even; punching a balloon didn't do anything but a pinprick popped it.

Carefully calling on his Flames, Tsuna tried to limit them to just over his ring. It was very hard; keeping them from flickering up on his forehead was the hardest bit and he had to breathe deeply and not get distracted.

He wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually he had a glowing spike emerging from his ring. Tsuna carefully pressed the point of the spike against the sphere wall and leaned, all his Will on that single, sharp point.

He didn't want to overpower Hibari; he'd never wanted to overpower Hibari. He just wanted Hibari-san –everyone– to recognise that he was _capable_. He _could_ do things. And he didn't need that _stupid_ Vongola ring he _didn't have_ to save him!

_I am __**enough**__. Stop pushing me __**around**__! _

The spike shifted in colour to a pure, clear orange and abruptly broke through the sphere; Tsuna tumbled forwards, banged his nose and quickly called more Flame to his fingers, pushing at the hole and sawing it further open. It was messy, slow and exhausting but eventually he crawled out of the gap he'd made. On his knees and panting at the sheer effort required to control the intensity and focus of his Flames to such a degree, Tsuna tilted his head back and glared at Hibari.

"I don't _have_ the stupid Vongola Ring," he snapped in between breaths, "because in _my_ past I _lost_ the Ring Battle to Xanxus. I just have a regular focus ring. I'm not Don Vongola and I never will be, so I don't _need_ to take the stupid Vongola Trial."

Hibari-san stared down at him impassively for several seconds; Tsuna realised he'd just yelled at _Hibari_-_san_ and quailed.

"You have found your strength, small animal," the Cloud said mildly. "You're finally starting to resemble the version of you I know. That you thrills me the same way the baby does." The ripped spiked sphere evaporated as the Cloud turned and walked away across the training room, then turned back to face Tsuna, drawing his tonfas. "Let's begin."

Tsuna scrambled to his feet, bringing back to mind the tight, all-encompassing certainty that had filled him when his Flames changed; the crystalline orange glow covered both his hands and he lifted them up in front of him in preparation.

Suddenly he was swamped with a wave of… intimidation? It was like he could suddenly _feel_ Hibari-san's bloodlust and hunger to crush him.

Tsuna _refused_ to be crushed. He was _enough_, he would not be diminished!

"There are no rules in this fight," Adult Hibari said softly. "The only choice you have is to defeat me or die."

"I'll defeat you," Tsuna said flatly. He would defeat Hibari, get the exposition, beat this _stupid_ game and go home.

Hibari-san smiled. "Come and get it."

Tsuna charged. Two minutes later he was embedded in the floor, head spinning; keeping his new Flame stable was _hard_ and the crystalline Flames completely overpowered his usual techniques.

"Remember what I said?" Hibari taunted him.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes, clambering carefully to his feet. "I must defeat you, right?" Brute force wasn't going to cut it. Then again, brute force hadn't got him out of the sphere either; guile and thought had. Right now Hibari-san had the upper hand; he was older, better trained and had both his tonfas and a Box Weapon he could pull out at any time.

Wait. The Box Weapon. Mirch-san had said that Sky Flames could open _any_ Box.

Reaching for his Flames, Tsuna charged. If he thought about it Hibari-san would notice, so he had to move–

As before, Hibari-san dodged the Flaming fist aimed at his head and buried a tonfa in Tsuna's stomach, launching him across the room and carving another groove in the floor.

"I'm disappointed in you; I have no interest in weak herbivores. I don't even feel like engaging you directly." The Cloud turned away. "I'll use the box–"

Tsuna dragged himself up on his elbows and pulled the pick-pocketed Box up level with his ring. "Please work," he mumbled before pressing Box and ring together.

An orange spiked ball _exploded_ out of the box in a tight spiral, heading directly for Hibari, who'd half-turned back towards him. Hibari-san instantly produced _another_ box –how many did he have?– and clicked it against his ring, firing another identical spiky ball at Tsuna's. They clashed in midair, orange struggling against purple and neither overcoming the other.

"I've changed my mind," Hibari-san said evenly. "I want to fight you when you're stronger. Until then, I'll stick around a little longer." He paused, face lit by flickering purple and orange. "Now then, do you know how the boxes came about?"

He'd unlocked Hibari-san's exposition!

* * *

What Tsuna took away from the new Box Weapon exposition –which Mirch-san participated in as much as Hibari-san– was that they'd been designed a long time ago but only been actually built very recently –as in only in this fake reality; definitely a videogame mechanic– and that Hibari-san found their existence and distribution to be suspiciously coincidental. As in involving a large number of really unlikely coincidences; since this was a live-action game thing, that meant it was probably somehow their enemy's fault.

Oh, and Skies couldn't use all the attributes of regular Flame Boxes, so there were special Sky Boxes. He'd probably have to do a quest for one of those too at some point.

And Hibari-san wanted to fight him _again_ tomorrow.

Tsuna desperately needed to sleep before then –he was exhausted– but it didn't look like Mirch-san was going to let him go to bed early. Not when she'd just seen him do something new.

* * *

The next morning Gokudera joined them for breakfast for the first time.

"Tenth! I'm so sorry I'm dragging you down."

"Gokudera, you aren't," Tsuna said firmly as Viola-san piled more eggs and steamed fish onto his plate; he wasn't sure how it worked but the videogame food did seem to be actually nutritious. "You have to recover at your own pace or else you'll hurt yourself, and if you did _that_ then I'd be really worried." Getting Gokudera to stop calling him 'tenth' would have to wait since everybody in this fake place addressed him that way.

"Sorry!" Gokudera ducked his head. "I will be more careful of myself in future, Tenth."

"How are you?" Tsuna asked, wanting to steer the subject away from his friend's ongoing guilt over not being able to participate in training.

Gokudera grimaced, looking down at his plate which had toast and fruit slices on; food that did not require chopsticks. "I can walk now, so long as I'm careful, but I can't grip things or turn my wrists very far. I'm still wearing knee braces too, so I don't overtax the scar tissue. Viola's done some graphs and projections of how I'm improving, but I'm not going to be able to fight for real for _months_ yet."

"Graphs?" Tsuna asked, swallowing a mouthful of egg.

"So he can see his progress," Viola-san said briskly, glancing up from her natto. "Rehabilitation is very disheartening when you can't track improvement."

"I'm nearly three times as mobile as when we arrived here, Tenth," Gokudera said shyly.

"That's so good! Well done!" Tsuna enthused.

"Thank you Tenth!" His friend flushed. "But I've got a long way to go." His expression hardened. "I know I won't be able to fight with you but now I can help out at the computers and won't drag everybody down."

"So long as you stop when you start to feel pain," Viola-san said firmly. "No setting your progress back."

Gokudera huffed, but he didn't argue.

"I'm glad you can help with the security, you're very good with codes," Tsuna said earnestly.

His friend twitched in embarrassment. "Thank you Tenth! Oh, that reminds me: remember you gave me my older self's briefcase? Well his notes were written in G script, so I didn't have any trouble deciphering them: the letter says, 'Gather the Guardians. With the Vongola Rings, defeat Byakuran. Eliminate the guy with the glasses in the photograph. Everything will return to as it was.' That's all."

So that was the game's plotline. There was a problem with that though, never mind that he _didn't have_ the Vongola Rings:

"Gokudera… the guy in the glasses is my _cousin_."

"You're related to the Irie guy?" Takeshi asked.

"You are too," Tsuna explained: "His grandpa was Sawada Ieyoshi, whose sister Iku married Yamamoto Takehiro."

"Grandma's a Sawada?" Takeshi looked shocked. "Wow, I didn't realise!"

"Baseball Idiot is descended from First?!"

Tsuna groaned. "Gokudera, _everybody_ in Namimori is related to him somehow; it's a small town and he lived here nearly four-hundred years ago! He had six children! My grandpa had five sisters! Five! And _his_ father had _eight_ sisters and two brothers who all married locally! One of Grandpa's sisters married Kyoko-chan's great-grandfather and another one married Haru-chan's great-grandpa! _My_ great-grandpa's wife was a Hibari and his sister _married_ a Hibari! If we looked at the family records of everybody in class then I'm probably related twice over to everybody whose grandparents were born here!"

Gokudera looked stunned. So did Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan.

"We're related?" Haru gushed, going pink.

"Like he said, it's a small town," Viola-san said briskly, clearing away the empty serving dishes, "so it's not so surprising really. The Vongola's much the same: nearly everybody's related a few times over if you go back half a dozen generations."

"So… you're _not_ going to eliminate glasses-guy?" Gokudera asked quietly.

"We still don't really know what's going on or how we got here," Tsuna said quietly, "or what Irie-san is supposed to have _done_. Yes, we _are_ going to attack their base as soon as we get the opportunity, but I'd rather capture Irie-san than kill him."

"It's a smart move," Viola-san agreed, "especially since Irie is high-ranking in the Millefiore. He'll know lots of sensitive information."

Tsuna thought of something. "Viola-san, Gokudera says the Giglio Nero are a Sky lineage, so Yuni-san is a Sky; is Byakuran a Sky too?"

She smiled thinly at him. "Oh yes."

"Does he have Guardians then?" It seemed to be a theme in the Underworld.

"They're called the Funeral Wreaths; Irie is one."

Useful exposition, only revealed because he'd thought to ask; he _needed_ to ask more questions. That explained a lot though; more game bosses to look forward to then. Wait, Fuuta had said that only six of the Millefiore's captains were A-rank, hadn't he? There were six Flame types other than Sky, so it made sense for those six to be the Funeral Wreaths.

Hibari-san had already killed Gamma, so that was one down; five more to look forward to then.

"All the more reason to capture and interrogate him then, Tenth!" Gokudera said supportively. He still looked desperately unhappy about not being able to join in though.

Tsuna was privately very glad at least _one_ of his friends –other than Kyoko-chan– was going to be out of the direct line of fire, but he knew Gokudera wouldn't appreciate him saying that; the Storm wanted to feel _useful_. He'd never noticed that before coming here but now he couldn't miss it. It was upsetting but he didn't want his friend to be sad. "Gokudera… if you could help improve base security that would be really helpful," he suggested, "in case we do get invaded. Or maybe long-range support? I know you use dynamite, but Squalo-san said once that the best way to eliminate a close-combat specialist is to snipe them from over a kilometre away."

He'd said it when Hibari-san was fighting all those Varia after the Ring Battles and followed it up with a pointed statement on how that was why situational awareness was essential if you wanted to avoid getting shot, along with an insinuation that Xanxus was just as good with a rifle as with his hand-guns.

Gokudera stilled, then pulled several odd faces in rapid succession. "I'll ask Mirch-san for a recommendation," he mumbled eventually, eyes dropping to his food. "She was military once; I'll probably need a brace though."

"I can arrange that," Viola-san offered. "You might be able to adapt your Box Weapons to work with a rifle, come to that; you should talk to Giannini."

"I will," Gokudera said, tone firming up. "Thanks for the suggestion, Tenth! I won't let you down!"

"Just no injuring yourself please," Tsuna begged. Giannini had made him some replacement gloves last night –plain black leather with metal plates across the top of his knuckles, treated to be Flameproof like the Varia uniforms– but learning to use them was definitely a work in progress as they handled very differently to his old Leon-made gloves. They _did_ work though, so Tsuna was giving this version of the weapons' tuner the benefit of the doubt.

"I promise, Tenth!"

* * *

It was after dinner and Tsuna was _exhausted_. He'd been yawning through the meal and was looking forward to being able to fall over into bed for the next nine hours. Mirch-san was a slave driver, but unlike Reborn she insisted on him getting enough sleep between training sessions so at least he wasn't constantly dropping off during the day like he had during the Ring Battles.

"Boss?"

He turned and narrowly missed banging his elbow on the wall. "Chrome-chan? How's your training going?"

She smiled softly at him. "Well, I think. Haru-chan and Hana-chan are taking it in turns to use the Lightning Ring now and I-Pin is doing very well with her Sun Flames. She was hoping you might lend her the Sun Ring, so she could improve her focus and try opening a Box Weapon; the Foundation have several."

Tsuna bit his lip. "Chrome-chan, you know I don't want to lend my rings to the game characters," he replied quietly. "I don't want to risk leaving them behind when we escape."

"Of course not boss!" she said quickly. "That's why I have a plan to protect then." She glanced up and down the hallway. "Can we…" she nodded at a nearby door. Tsuna realised what she meant and tried the handle; it was unlocked.

Another empty and unfurnished room with only a light fitting and several electrical sockets greeted him.

Shutting the door behind them, Chrome turned to face him. "It's a Mist application," she explained: "Mukuro-sama told me about it. It's used a lot in the Vongola, mostly with personal weapons. It binds an object to your Flame signature, so that when you want it, it appears in your hand. You can use it to summon things from a long way away, or just to keep them in your Flames rather than actually in your pockets. I could Bind all your Family Rings to your Flames, so that the moment you want them back you will have them on you."

"That sounds like a great idea," Tsuna admitted. That way he wouldn't have to worry about them being stolen.

"It only works for people with Mist Flames," she specified, "but Sky is a composite Flame so you shouldn't have any trouble, even if you can't separate out the Mist from your Harmony."

"So what do I need to do?"

"You need to have all the Rings to hand, so I can Bind them to you. The binding uses your Flames not mine, so it might feel a bit odd, but once it's done only you will be able to break it."

Tsuna blinked. "Chrome-chan… I don't have all the rings right now. Can we do it tomorrow morning? Before training?"

She flushed. "Yes boss. That's a good idea."

He smiled at her, then paused. He had a feeling…

"Is there anything else, Chrome-chan?"

She looked nervous. "Boss?"

"Yes?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do, Chrome-chan! I gave you my Family Ring, didn't I?" Tsuna tried to find words past his tired thick-headedness. "You fought for me; you're my friend and you're Mukuro's friend too. We look after each-other."

She smiled again, the expression small but warm. "Mukuro-sama wants me to help him trap one of the Funeral Wreaths," she said very softly. "He's already set the trap and they're on their way; I just have to go and spring it. He was planning it with older me but now I'm here he needs me to step in."

Tsuna did not have the wherewithal to panic or poke holes in this reasoning right now. He was too tired. All he had to go on were his instincts. If Byakuran was his endgame opponent, then the Funeral Wreaths were probably bosses for his Guardians to defeat, right? Like the Ring Battles.

Grandma said he should trust his instincts and Reborn had said things about the Vongola Intuition as well.

"I trust you both," he repeated, going with what felt right. "Just make sure to hide your Ring when you leave, okay? The Millefiore have a scanner too." He paused. What else should he..? "When you win, try and steal any Rings or Box Weapons they have? That way they can't be used against us later." Looting defeated enemies was part of what videogames were about after all and Tsuna did not believe for a moment that his Mist would do this if there was even a small chance he might lose.

Chrome-chan chuckled in a distinctly Mukuro-like manner. "As you command, Tsunayoshi."

* * *

The following morning Kusakabe-san showed up to provide another information briefing an hour before lunch, which involved sitting at a long table with pop-up computer screens built into it along with Takeshi and Gokudera, Kuasakabe-san sitting opposite alongside Reborn, Mirch-san and Giannini. Most of it was local movement and details of which Millefiore people had been seen where, but Kusakabe-san finished off with some unexpected exposition.

Exposition that didn't make much sense to Tsuna, honestly.

"M-Mukuro was defeated?" But Chrome had talked to him just yesterday! And last week too! Tsuna opened his mouth to point that out, realised that if he said that the exposition might get cut and quickly cast around for something else. "But Mukuro is still in the Vindice's prison."

"That is also what we believed," Kusakabe agreed; oh good, he'd not messed up then. "Five years ago Jōshima, Kakimoto and Chrome attempted to break him out, but did not succeed. After that we lost track of all three of them, although we heard a strange rumour half a year later."

"A strange rumour?" Takeshi repeated.

"It claimed Mukuro had been defeated," Kusakabe said solemnly.

"What does that _mean_?" Tsuna asked. Obviously Mukuro wasn't _dead_.

"The information indicated that the Millefiore who defeated him was the eighth captain, Glo Xinia. One of the rare A-ranked captains, he's known for being greatly skilled and is a man of considerable power," Kusakabe explained.

Tsuna suddenly had an inkling of who it was exactly that Mukuro and Chrome were intending to trap.

"Considering the possibilities, it's highly likely he fought somebody that Mukuro was possessing, is it not?" Kusakabe continued, oblivious to Tsuna's trepidation. "Consider also that, even with Mukuro having been dealt massive damage, there's a very low change he would have died. We believe this because afterwards, in an airport in Italy, a man made contact and we were able to get a photo of Chrome Dokuro."

The picture appeared on the screen, replacing the image of Glo Xinia and the attached vital statistics. In the middle was Adult Chrome, hair covered by a scarf and wearing dark glasses, one arm in a sling and the other towing a suitcase. She was standing close to another man with his face turned away.

"We know Chrome was here three weeks ago because she met up with Lambo and I-Pin in time to help rescue Miura," Kusakabe continued, "but we don't know what she was doing in the time between her disappearance and her being exchanged for the younger Chrome. We also don't know anything about Mukuro and what he has been doing. However Hibari-san suspects that the man she made contact with has a piece of Mukuro within him. We do not yet know his identity and we do not believe it's anybody you guys already know." He sighed. "But here is another thing that leads us to believe Mukuro is at work." He produced a photo print. "This photo was taken."

It was the Hibird from the other week. Except there was something else in the background, half out of frame…

"That's Mukuro?!" Tsuna blurted out. It certainly wasn't a person!

"It's another part of Mukuro," Kusakabe corrected. "When Hibari-san was staying in Italy he had a feeling it was watching him and felt confident there was more to it than the obvious. Fortunately he was able to take a photograph of it with our camera."

"But…" Takeshi trailed off.

"That's.." Gokudera protested.

"We gave it a codename based on Mukuro's own," Kusakabe continued serenely, as though the shadowed, feathered fraction of image wasn't very clearly part of an owl's face.

At that moment the screen on the wall opposite Tsuna chirped, a glowing point appearing on the map for a few seconds before vanishing again.

"What's that, Giannini?" Mirch-san asked.

"It was only for a moment, but we picked up the presence of a very powerful ring on the outskirts of Kokuyō Land," the weapons tuner said.

"Kokuyō Land?" That was probably where Chrome and Mukuro were springing their trap!

"But that area is flooded with very heavy electromagnetic interference," Giannini added, looking uneasy. "It's very likely it's a false alarm."

"It could be a new enemy," Mirch-san said pessimistically.

Tsuna paused. He had the strangest feeling… "No," he said slowly, "I'm sure it's a friend."

Reborn glanced thoughtfully at him. "Analyse the data on the outskirts of Kokuyō Land again," the hitman ordered.

"Roger that!" Giannini confirmed, hunching over his keyboard.

Tsuna didn't think it was Chrome, although he knew it could be; Mukuro wouldn't set a trap on the _outskirts_ of Kokuyō, not when he knew the whole area so well.

Wait, if Glo Xinia really _was_ the funeral Wreath Mukuro was setting his trap for, he'd probably have a high-ranked ring like Gamma did. Except it didn't _feel_ like that. Who could it be?

"As I suspected, we don't have enough data," Giannini admitted eventually, settling back in his seat. "I am unable to determine if the signal our radar detected at Kokuyō is real or not."

Tsuna bit his lip. He had every faith in Chrome, he really did, but even with her new organs and three weeks of intensive training she was still learning. She admitted herself that she had a long way to go before she would be as good as Maínomai, the Mist she'd lost to during the Ring Battles.

The screen peeped again, the map vanishing behind rows of commas.

"It's an emergency coded message," Giannini said, frowning.

"The code consists of rows of commas," Reborn noted. "That means–"

Giannini glanced over at Tsuna. "In Underworld slang, a comma represents a severed head; it's a code for killing. It must be the Assassination Division's code!"

Assassination Division? Tsuna frowned. The only assassins he was aware of belonging to the Vongola were the Varia. Was it them?

"The data contains a video, I believe," Giannini muttered, bending over the keyboard again. "Give me another moment to decode it."

"But well, if it's the Assassination Division," Gokudera mumbled.

"I can't think of anybody else it could be but those guys," Tsuna agreed wryly; maybe he'd get to meet Ten-Years-Later-Xanxus and ask a few questions? Along the lines of why on _Earth_ he'd let this other Tsuna become Vongola Tenth when he wasn't remotely qualified…

"Well, there are many such groups in this era," Kusakabe-san warned them.

"Aha, I think I've got it," the weapons tuner said triumphantly. "Just as I thought, it's a Vongola code. The digital signature matches as well."

"So it really is them, the Varia," Gokudera said, voice small and shrinking in his seat slightly. Tsuna glanced at him worriedly, reaching out a hand to rest above his friend's knee. Gokudera had had by far the worst experience during the Ring Battles; Lambo didn't seem to remember much of his battle beyond having lost. Gokudera however was still recovering physically and Tsuna had no doubt he still had a way to go in his head as well.

"Playing now," Giannini said, pressing a button.

"**VOOOOOOOI!**"

Tsuna flinched back into his seat at the sheer volume.

"**ARE YOUR HEADS STILL ATTACHED?! FUCKING LOUSY BRATS!**"

"It's him!"

"Future–"

"Squalo!" Takeshi exclaimed delightedly.

"Turn it down!" Mirch-san demanded.

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Get this! Fucking lousy brats!" Older Squalo continued, still visibly shouting but the sound levels less painful with the volume having been manually reduced. "Stay where you are! Even if you pick up the signal of a new ring outside!"

"He means the one in Kokuyō Land," Reborn commented.

Another familiar face pushed onto the screen and Gokudera went grey, shivering in his seat and wheezing.

"If you wait patiently, a very simple instruction will come your way soon," Older Belphegor sing-songed, grinning toothily. "Until then, be good and stay put, kiddies!"

"VOOI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

"The prince is bored; I came to bug you," the Storm Officer said cheerfully.

"If you interrupt me again, I'm going to kill you," Older Squalo hissed through gritted teeth.

"I dare you," Older Bel replied softly.

"VOOI!" Squalo pounced on his colleague.

"Hehehe –ouch!" The couch overturned in the scuffle, both assassins vanishing off-screen.

Wow, they hadn't changed a bit. Well obviously not, seeing as their characters were modelled on the current Varia.

Squalo's face popped up again, very near the camera with blood splattered across his cheek. "I hope we can meet again in this lifetime!" he shouted. "Until then, make sure you don't die!" The video ended, the screen going blank.

"Those two haven't changed a bit," Takeshi said cheerfully, smiling Tsuna's way.

"They're still scary," Tsuna said, squeezing Gokudera's leg to try and get his friend to calm down. "I wonder what the instruction they mentioned was?"

"I guess they must mean him," Giannini said, looking over their heads with a smile. "He's back from Italy."

Tsuna turned. Standing in the doorway behind them was–

"Sasagawa Ryōhei, gate crashing!" Adult Onī-san announced cheerfully with Chrome cradled in his arms, looking slightly worse for wear but smiling.

"Hey Boss," she said softly. "Look who I found."

Tsuna leapt to his feet, beaming. "Well done, Chrome-chan!" He paused. "Did you?"

Her smile widened, cheeks going pink as Adult Onī-san set her gently on her feet. "We did. He will no longer be a problem. And," she reached into her pocket, "look what I found." She produced two Box Weapons and a winged ring with a blue stone.

"Well done!" Tsuna told her enthusiastically. She and Mukuro had defeated somebody who was as strong as Gamma!

"Thank you Boss." She hesitated. "I would like to keep this one, though," her fingers lingered over the right-most Box Weapon.

Well, she needed one so why not? "Go ahead," he told her, smiling as she pocketed it before handing the ring and other Box Weapon over to Kusakabe.

Then Kyoko-chan charged into the room, throwing her arms around Adult Onī-san, and the meeting ended.

* * *

After the near-miss involving his previous communications officer, Byakuran had been pleased to have someone recommended by Shō-chan to replace the unfortunately deceased Luigi. It would have been nice if _somebody_ had noticed Luigi's condition _before_ the man's undead zombie was caught systematically downloading confidential information and stealing hardcopy files, but clearing up that mess had kept his underlings busy and had enabled them to close a few previously unnoticed loopholes, so it had worked out well enough. Despite the chaos the zombie had caused on being discovered and the bruises on Byakuran's arm.

The Sky's fingers tightened around his glass. Why zombies? Where had the zombies _come_ from?! There'd not been _any_ zombies in the alternate realities he'd experienced so far, so why were there zombies _here?_ What was different? What was he _missing_ that all of a sudden his biggest problem in enacting world conquest was not the expected Vongola amusements but _kamikaze zombies_?!

It had started off with mysterious mass deaths in his Russian base eighteen months ago, everybody just walking out of the building to lie down in the car park and be found dead minutes later. The White Spell investigative team had found the building's hard drives wiped, the physical records missing and all the corpses showing signs of having been dead far longer than the communications logs with other bases implied. Byakuran had thought he'd found the Vongola Mist, except that a month later he was attacked by a man he _knew_ was loyal, suddenly Active despite having reserves that were all-but-non-existent and talking calmly about a 'mistress' in between trying to rip the Sky limb from limb.

Byakuran's men had defended him of course, but his attacker had not stopped despite mutilation and dismemberment; a Black Spell Storm had eventually been summoned to disintegrate the twitching mound of body parts attempting to reassemble itself and Byakuran had a new nightmare that no amount of marshmallows before bedtime could drive away.

Scans, Flame monitoring and verbal checks did nothing to winnow out the homicidal undead from the living; the zombies were indistinguishable right up until they were dealt a fatal blow and kept going. Byakuran had lost six bases, twelve Squads and numberless masses of informants, sympathisers and underlings to the invisible threat so far and it had long ceased to be remotely amusing. Even _blood tests_ were useless and he had _no idea_ how that was possible; it wasn't viral or bacterial, it wasn't Flames, so what _was_ it?! Moving his subordinates into accommodation where they were subject to subtle round-the-clock surveillance seemed to be working as a deterrent, but people still needed to eat so shopping trips and third-party deliveries were choke points that could not be worked around.

He'd instituted strict protocols to send everybody out in pairs and Squads while working, as that way whoever was behind this would have a harder time picking people off, but even _that_ guaranteed nothing. He'd resorted in many places to recruiting teenagers; the zombies could not mimic growth for all their bodies were capable of a degree of regeneration. He was also hiring more women; zombies didn't menstruate either, a tell that he'd lavishly rewarded one of his better analysts for picking up on after the zombie of a career secretary who'd been with the Gesso for thirty years succeeded in decapitating his previous Fake Storm Funeral Wreath with a length of dental floss. Not good news to wake up to, but after that there had been no more obvious attacks on his Fake Funeral Wreaths. Why he had no idea; _nothing_ about the zombies made sense.

Gently encouraging an alcohol culture provided another layer of security, since the zombies couldn't get drunk, and cracking down on people pulling all-nighters had the happy effect of improving productivity as well as weeding out a few more moles; zombies didn't sleep either, although they were certainly capable of pretending to.

However Byakuran was unpleasantly aware that his organisation was too large for there _not_ to be more zombies lurking in it _somewhere_, partly because the fact that there _were_ zombies infiltrating the Millefiore was something he was keeping as secret as possible to prevent mass panic. Mass panic was not productive and he couldn't rule the world if all his subordinates were cowering in bolt-holes from the ongoing zombie apocalypse. If the zombies had been more easily detectable it would have been different, but right now all the investigation team had to work with were a handful of maybes.

Some people didn't drink for personal or religious reasons; some women didn't menstruate for reasons connected to their health. Some people naturally needed less sleep than others. There was no discernible personality change following death, only a shift in loyalties and a complete assurance that their 'mistress' would succeed in destroying the Millefiore.

All in all, it was a relief to discover that the issue with Leonardo Lippi was that he actually _was_ a puppet for the Vongola Mist Guardian rather than yet another of the restless dead. Byakuran had practice neutralising Vongola annoyances after all.


	2. Act 2

**Yesterday's Tomorrow **

"Oh, Kyoko… you're… so short."

Tsuna felt all his instincts twinge as Adult Onī-san hugged Kyoko-chan tightly. Why would he say that? Onī-san wasn't _that_ much taller as an adult than he was really and Kyoko-chan probably wasn't any taller than her adult self either; Adult Haru-chan certainly hadn't been. So _why_ was that Onī-san's only comment? It was weird.

"I'm so glad you're alright!"

Tsuna hoped Kyoko-chan remembered that this wasn't real, no matter how authentically Onī-san was behaving. This wasn't really her brother, just an AI based off him. Which might explain the weird behaviour. Possibly.

"Don't cry Kyoko! As you can see I'm alive and kicking! Ok?" Onī-san's voice never wavered, but Tsuna still had a bad, bad feeling. Something was going on here, something he couldn't pin down.

"Why do the Varia know about you coming here, Onī-san?" he asked.

Adult Onī-san stiffened, then turned to smile at him. "It's been a long time since you called me that, Sawada!" With that he gently untangled himself from Kyoko-chan, aided by Hana-chan arriving in the room alongside Haru and Older I-Pin. "It's because I was with them! I've returned with a message!"

Tsuna blinked. Onī-san with the Varia? He couldn't picture it. Takeshi yes, definitely, but Onī-san? He was just too much; Xanxus would shoot him inside the first few hours, Tsuna was certain.

"What is it?" Gokudera asked shortly, still rather pale, his hands tucked defensively under his elbows.

"I've forgotten it, to the extreme!"

Well, _definitely_ Onī-san.

"But not to worry, I wrote it down! I have learned something these past ten years." He produced a folded piece of paper from a pocket and started skimming it.

How did Adult Onī-san know it was supposed to be ten years ago they were from? He'd not been here and there'd not been any messages from him either. That was the kind of thing that really gave away that this whole reality was fake; the little assumptions. Still, if he was going to get out he needed these fake adult versions of his friends to help him and share their exposition, so he had to keep quiet and go along with the plot. Even when it was a stupid plot that was clearly designed by somebody who'd not been paying attention to the last few months of his life and wanted to steal something from the Vongola.

"There was a sumo match in Italy I had to attend on official business!" Adult Onī-san shouted, blatantly lying. "It was really great you know! Kyoko! Hana! Haru!"

All the girls looked bitterly disappointed and Hana-chan seemed to be deciding whether or not to kick him.

"Onī-san, everybody here knows how serious the situation is," Tsuna said firmly. "We're trapped here in this… alternate reality…" because Onī-san would _not_ like him to reveal the criminal realities to Kyoko-chan and outright calling things 'fake' in front of somebody who was part of the construct was unwise, "until we can defeat Byakuran and go home. We know that everyone here is part of the mafia regardless of what things are like where we're from."

"It's really annoying that everything here is crime-themed," Hana-chan agreed, immediately realising what he was trying to do and helping out, "but the sooner we deal with it the sooner we can go home and have things go back to normal."

"Alternate reality! Of course!" Adult Onī-san agreed quickly. "In your reality I will probably become a professional boxer, not join a mafia family!" He grinned briefly before his face dropped back into the serious lines it had been settled in before he saw Kyoko. "I was sent to the Varia as a messenger from the Tenth Boss concerning something in particular. While I was there, the Vongola Hunt started up."

_Tsuna's_ alternate had sent him? More proof of how ridiculous this whole thing was; he'd _never_ send Onī-san to talk to Xanxus. Or even to talk to Squalo; he'd send Takeshi or maybe Chrome. Takeshi fitted in with the Varia in some indefinable way and Chrome was polite enough that Xanxus wouldn't mind listening to her.

Adult Onī-san's exposition explained how he knew they were from 'the past' –supposedly somebody had told the Varia, who had then told a few other Vongola survivors and allied families, including the Cavallone– and that the surviving leaders had come up with an attack plan on Byakuran for Tsuna to approve. Specifically, a raid on the Millefiore's Japanese base in five days' time, while the survivors raided other Millefiore bases local to where they were. Simultaneous attacks would reduce the likelihood of a strong response at any specific location, which would increase their chances of success.

Tsuna thought it was a terrible idea; what if Byakuran wasn't in any of the bases being attacked? How were they supposed to defeat him if they couldn't _find_ him? Attacking the local base wasn't going to help!

Except of course this was a stupid _game_ thing, so of course raiding the local base _would_ either draw out the Final Boss or provide directions to the base where the Final Boss was. That was how games worked; you had a sequence of increasingly powerful bosses to beat and each one directed you towards the next one.

"Five days is too soon," he protested weakly, knowing even as he said it that he would end up approving the stupid plan. He'd levelled up a bit, so now he had to start actually progressing through the game's plot. Or else the plot would come looking for _him_ and then he'd be on the back foot.

"But if we miss this chance, there's no telling when we'll be ready to make an effective strike against the Millefiore again," Adult Onī-san countered, confirming Tsuna's fears.

"The enemy could find our hideout anytime too," Mirch-san pointed out. "The sooner we do this the better."

"Now that Ryōhei is here, you've cleared the first objective," Reborn pointed out.

"You've gathered the Guardians, Boss!" Gokudera interjected brightly.

Oh. Yes. So _that_ was why he had a quest now: he'd fulfilled the conditions for it. Well it was a good thing Adult Onī-san hadn't turned up earlier then. Even though he technically _didn't_ have all his Guardians, because only Takeshi, Chrome, Haru and occasionally Gokudera were using his rings. Was the game counting the NPC versions? Clearly.

Still, that made it very obvious that he didn't have a choice; if he didn't agree to the attack in five days' time, the Millefiore would probably assault the base in six days' time or something. Better to be the ones attacking than defending, really.

"Listen Sawada, there are a few things left to discuss but we'll leave that until later," Adult Onī-san said. "This strategy will determine the survival of the Vongola. It's a very important battle. But whether or not we carry out the plan, and how, will be your decision."

But he _wasn't the Tenth Boss! _Tsuna squeaked in protest, while also making a note of that admission of more exposition he needed to unlock.

"The Vongola's upper echelon is currently in total chaos," Adult Onī-san explained quietly. "They don't exactly want to rely on you guys from the past either. The Varia have also taken the stance that they will follow the Ninth's guidance. Obviously they won't call things off on your say-so, will they?"

No, Xanxus wouldn't. But the Ninth was still alive? Really? Or was it more that this way Xanxus could do what he wanted without having to answer to anyone else? That seemed more likely to Tsuna than the Ninth still being alive, honestly. The body double he'd injured at the Cloud Battle had looked horribly old and frail, and he'd clearly been a _very_ close match to the real Ninth to have fooled Reborn. For him to still be alive ten years later was a bit of a stretch.

"But as long as the leader of this hideout is the Vongola tenth boss, he will make that decision. That's what I said to them, to the extreme!" Adult Onī-san exclaimed, then coughed. "Well, a version of him at least! Sawada is still Sawada after all! The deadline is the end of today; if you want to call it off, I'll convey the message to the House Heads."

"I'll let you know," Tsuna managed, head spinning. The Vongola thing was a distraction, wasn't it? Or else an incentive: if he fought now he'd have allies so the fights might well be less difficult, but if he dug in his heels then he'd have to do it all himself. Well, some games let you recruit NPCs as additional player characters, didn't they?

If this really _did_ come to a Boss Fight, then having Xanxus help out –even a fake version of him– would be really nice. Xanxus was strong and knew what he was doing, so if _he_ was going to do it, Tsuna going along with it was probably a good idea.

"Now I need food and sleep, to the extreme!" Adult Onī-san bellowed cheerfully, turning and leaving the room.

If he 'allied with' the Vongola remnants and they happened to fight Byakuran, would that count towards the game objectives? Tsuna clutched at his head; this was _so hard_, he'd never been that good at strategy games with multiple endings! They were _really difficult_!

Obviously the game _wanted_ him to attack the Millefiore base, but nobody had any proof that fulfilling the game objectives would _really_ help them escape! He was trying to stall, to give his family –and probably Xanxus– more time to find them and get them out of here, but it was starting to look like the only way to do that would be to follow the plot! He didn't _want_ to follow the plot! This was a Matrix-style death-game and they might all _die_! He was mostly sure the entire _point_ of being trapped here was so the game's creator could steal the Vongola rings –which he didn't even _have_– which meant the game was _designed_ to be unbeatable! Hurrying along through the plot could only make things worse!

* * *

Mirch-san had let him off training after lunch, so Tsuna had wandered around the base to see how everybody else's training was going. It… wasn't great. He knew _he_ hadn't improved as much as Mirch-san had wanted –even though he was so much better than he had been right after the Ring Battles there was really no comparison– but Reborn clearly felt Takeshi had a long way to go yet, Gokudera _couldn't_ train –although he was reading everything in the base's files on guns right now and had apparently investigated the armoury– and while I-Pin assured him that Haru was showing incredible promise, she wasn't really ready for something this risky. She'd never fought for real before. Even _he_ knew this wasn't a good time to start.

Chrome was the only real person who probably wouldn't struggle; he'd already decided that regardless of outcome, Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan and Lambo _wouldn't_ be joining the assault. Lambo because he was five, Hana-chan because they only had one Lightning ring and Haru was better with it and Kyoko-chan because, while they'd had her try with all the rings just to see if she could use any of them, she could barely even call up a glow without exhausting herself. Besides, she could only do so with the Sky ring or the Mist ring, so Tsuna had asked her to take on some shifts to help Giannini with the base surveillance.

If Tsuna could choose, he'd take Takeshi and Chrome for the attack and possibly I-Pin as well –since she was getting rather good with the Sun ring, seeing as Chrome had sorted out the binding thing for him before breakfast– and leave Viola-san in charge of base security with Gokudera to back her up. Gokudera _was_ doing okay at using his Flames, for all that his physical injuries meant he couldn't do much or for very long because his control wasn't very good yet and according to Viola-san uncontrolled Storm Flames really slowed healing. Tsuna wasn't sure how that worked, but he would take her word for it.

At least Viola-san had all kinds of control exercises for Gokudera to work on; it distracted him from the problems he was having with all the Box Weapons that Adult Gokudera had left behind.

Tsuna was agonising over the best course of action when he noticed Mirch-san sitting down on the floor of the corridor, swathed in her cloak and looking terribly unwell.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?!"

Her goggles were pushed up on the top of her head, revealing unfocused pupils and a large scar that covered her right temple and reached halfway across her eye. "Who's there?" She asked vaguely. "Oh, Sawada; I was just dizzy, for a second."

Tsuna was suddenly reminded of when they'd first entered the base and Mirch-san had fallen over. Something about radiation and Mirch-san being technically an Arcobaleno like Reborn, which was why Reborn had to wear the silly outfit? But Mirch-san didn't have an outfit to protect her…

"Your eye," he blurted out, then winced internally.

"My right eye's always been bad," she dismissed, sitting upright, "that's why I wear goggles. But it looks like I don't need them anymore…"

"I should call Viola-san–"

"Mind your own business! The operation is in five days' time– I will not be the weak link! Don't you dare tell anyone about this!"

Tsuna was horribly torn. On the one hand, she was a game character and not a real person, but on the other she'd mentored him and videogame protagonists having their mentors die before they'd learned all they needed to succeed was _really common_ and he didn't want that to happen. Not when it would probably be right in front of him and he'd have to smell the blood.

"But, but you shouldn't overtax yourself! And maybe Viola-san can help so this doesn't happen during a fight!" Tsuna still had nightmares about arriving too late to save Gokudera and about Lambo dying before he could bargain with Lektor. He didn't want more nightmares! It was bad enough already, waking up in the middle of the night with his nose full of the scent of blood! "We, we don't have to join the operation–"

Mirch-san grabbed his collar and yanked him down nose to nose with her. "Is that what you really think?!" She hissed, tone cutting. "Sasagawa was too easy on you, so I'm going to make things clear right now: the difference in firepower between the Vongola and the Millefiore is _overwhelming_. Whether you join the war now or keep stalling for time, a lot of the people here _will_ die. What you have been entrusted with is not a choice between life or death, but of which hell you prefer. Lose the naivety."

Tsuna hadn't really been considering not doing the assault as a real choice, but this made it even clearer that the game was railroading him into attacking the Millefiore base in accordance with the time limit. He _desperately_ wished he could talk to Xanxus first. Even a fake version would be nice; it would have to be closely based on the real Xanxus to be realistic, so it would still be able to give good advice.

"Even if it's only going to raise our chances of survival by one-hundredth of a percent, making that choice is your _duty_," Mirch-san whispered hoarsely. "That is all you need to consider." She released him, stumbled heavily to her feet and swept away down the corridor.

Tsuna stared after her. He'd known things were bad in the setting, but _this_ bad? What _was_ this, some kind of apocalyptic thing? Well, it kind of fit the game theme; game protagonists _were_ usually having to 'save the world' from something or someone. In this one the Vongola and their Allies were 'the world' and he was cast as the protagonist.

And his fake older self had _clearly_ played a major role in creating the problems in the first place. What with destroying the Vongola rings and everything.

Well, at least it was clear that he didn't _actually_ have a choice. If all future game 'choices' were going to be like this then at least the plot would be easy to follow.

* * *

Tsuna's plan was to take Chrome and Takeshi with him to the Millefiore base. Adult Onī-san would be coming because Tsuna could not feasibly exclude him, no matter how worried he was about the possibility of whoever was sending people back carrying out a swap during the raid. Real Onī-san still had broken ribs, a broken arm and several broken fingers.

Mirch-san also wanted to come, but Viola-san had firmly vetoed that and threatened to tie the older woman up in the infirmary, then offered to take her place as a compromise. Oddly enough, Mirch-san had reluctantly agreed to that and given Viola-san her centipede Box Weapon, which Viola-san was practicing with during their five day preparation phase.

Gokudera very much wanted to come too, but Tsuna claimed he wanted somebody to stay behind at the base to 'look after' the girls and his friend folded instantly. Of course Tsuna had then had to explain himself to Haru and I-Pin and Hana, but they'd understood he didn't mean it as a slur on their capabilities. He just wanted Gokudera to look after himself for once!

Gokudera's obliviously suicidal offer reminded Tsuna that Adult Gokudera had been his adult self's Right Hand, so the Millefiore would _expect_ Gokudera to join the raid; with Gamma dead, they wouldn't know his younger self was injured. With that in mind he took a few minutes between training sessions to talk to Chrome, who helped him come up with a simple subterfuge: his Mist would disguise herself as Gokudera, while also disguising Viola-san as Mirch-san. That way even if things went badly they could still surprise their enemies.

Seeing as Adult Chrome hadn't had her organs replaced and Chrome had confided in him this morning that Adult Mukuro wasn't in contact at all right now –and according to Kusakabe-san's latest briefing might actually be really dead– the Millefiore would probably expect Chrome to be incapable of fighting. Tsuna was acutely grateful to Xanxus for ensuring Chrome _wasn't_ completely dependent on somebody else's very complicated illusions for survival anymore; why his adult self hadn't sorted out organs for her at some point made zero sense. Just like not getting Adult Mukuro out of prison made zero sense. It wasn't like the Vindice were a proper Underworld authority after all! Mukuro was being illegally detained! And it wasn't like locking him up had made him _stop_ committing crimes either!

Tsuna suspected that most of why Mukuro was in the Vindice's prison was because he'd embarrassed them by escaping; not just once, but _twice_. And by acting through proxies to continue committing crimes like being locked up in a tank wasn't inconveniencing him at all.

That the Vindice didn't seem to care he was still committing crimes made their case for keeping him imprisoned all the more flimsy. It was a travesty! Surely community service would be more effective? Mukuro hadn't even been an adult when he'd done all those things and none of his Mist's adult relatives had exactly been upstanding role-models, seeing as they'd been using him as a test subject starting when he was really small.

It made Tsuna's heart hurt that Mukuro and the others had killed the Estraneo –their own family– when Mukuro was nine. Nine!

Well, Xanxus was doing something about that now and once Mukuro was free, he would be living with Tsuna in Italy with Grandma and he could hopefully settle and have a proper home for the first time ever.

Right now however Tsuna had more sparring with Adult Hibari to get on with. Learning to use his new gloves offensively was hard, but part of that was because he was trying to make Grandma proud by not wasting Flames all over the place and keeping the beam attack he could do now as narrow as possible. It had more power when it was narrow; he'd proved it in the firing range on the lower levels. The problem was that now Mirch-san, Reborn and Adult Hibari had seen him use it to punch a fist-sized hole through four layered armour plates scavenged from Strau Moscas, they were insisting he be able to using it mid-fight rather than just from a standing start and _that_ was _hard_. Balancing it with a Flame boost in the opposite direction so he didn't embed himself in the wall –again– was incredibly difficult, even when he was standing still!

* * *

"So how's training going, Tsuna?"

Tsuna smiled distractedly up at Takeshi over his bento; they were sitting together in a vacant room not far from the door leading to Hibari-san's base, the bare panels and exposed wires making it obvious the space was not yet finished so they were unlikely to be interrupted. Which was the whole point of eating lunch here rather than in the kitchens or one of the training rooms; Tsuna hadn't managed to talk to Takeshi in private for well over a week.

"It's okay, I think? I mean, I'm getting better at using the crystalline Flames –Mirch-san calls them 'hard Flames'– but my control's still iffy and the backlash is awkward."

"Why is there any backlash at all?" Takeshi looked puzzled. "I mean, it's not like you're firing a gun or hitting a ball or anything; the Flames sort of get called into being and we direct them. It's more like, um, ah, I mean, er, like a hose! We're directing the Flames from inside to outside, not throwing them at people!"

Tsuna blinked. That was… why _was_ there backlash? Takeshi was right, it wasn't like he was throwing a _solid_ thing or lighting a rocket. Yes, Xanxus _had_ used the backlash from his guns to keep himself airborne during the Ring Battles, but moments before that he'd shot at him without even flinching. Did that mean Xanxus only experienced backlash when he wanted to? Or did it just _look_ like backlash and wasn't? Xanxus had stood on the wall without using Flames to keep him up, which Tsuna had managed to copy, but were there other things he could do like that? Like make himself almost weightless, maybe?

Was he experiencing backlash just because he _expected_ to? He thought of his Flames kind of like hand-held rockets, but that wasn't really true, was it? It was just… energy. Energy he could move with his mind. He wasn't firing it out of his body like he was a cannon. It was more like, erm, like a bow! The arrow went forwards and the string went forwards too and the archer had to make sure not to sway forwards as well.

"But what do I know, haha!"

"No, no, that's really helpful!" Tsuna said quickly, waving his hands frantically. "Thank you! I'll keep that in mind and it should solve the whole problem!" It would mean he didn't really _have_ to stabilise himself all the time, so the whole 'balance' problem stopped mattering entirely.

Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck with a small grin. "Whoa, really?"

"Yes! I mean, Xanxus said Flames are all about what I want, but I think a bit they're also about what I expect to happen? So I'm having backlash problems because I expect there to be backlash from me blasting Flames out of my hands," Tsuna tried to explain. "But there doesn't have to be, because that's not _really_ what I'm doing. I think?"

"Hahah, makes sense to me!" Takeshi reached out and hugged him with one arm. "Glad to have helped!"

"S-so how's your training going then?" Tsuna asked, fumbling with his chopsticks.

"Really well! Reborn's really cool, you know! But also kind of scary. I mean, he's a baby! When did he learn to fight like that?" Takeshi said enthusiastically. "I've almost got it, you know?"

Tsuna had accidentally walking in on Takeshi's training a few days ago; it had been very impressive.

"But never mind that; how are _you_, Tsuna?" His friend asked abruptly, eyes turning serious.

"Er, well, I'm okay?"

Takeshi smiled, but rather than his usual grin this was small and fond and faintly bemused. "Tsuna. It's okay. I'm… well, I'm really glad you worked out this was a live-action game, because otherwise I'd be pretty upset about Dad being dead. I guess the developers did that on purpose, so he couldn't defeat the Millefiore for us!"

Tsuna chuckled half-heartedly at the joke. "Yeah, and I suppose that's why Shamal is missing and none of anybody else's parents are around: we wouldn't be able to do all this if we were worrying about what they might say about us being here, would we?" Adult Hana-chan had obviously lived alone and Kyoko-chan's parents had moved away. He wasn't sure about Haru-chan's parents, but she wasn't worried so everything was clearly fine.

"Haha, true!" Takeshi ate some more of his curry and rice.

"I'm a bit worried about how much longer we're going to be stuck here," Tsuna admitted quietly, "especially since time here passes ten times as fast. This assault is definitely a plot thing, which means there are probably going to be more plot things after it, and we _still_ don't know if it's even _possible_ for us to win. Or what we get if we 'win'; what if we're just expected to pick up where the characters we replaced let off? For us to be here means somebody in real life messed with the Ten-Year Bazooka, so the only way we're going to get out is if people back there find them and sort things out. We're basically trying to escape a cage we can't even find the walls of!"

"Hey there," Takeshi said firmly, shaking him. "None of that, okay? We're all here, we're all doing well –well other than Gokudera but he's getting better– and we've got a plan. Besides, like you said, if the game-maker person _does_ want the Vongola Rings, then Xanxus _is_ going to get involved and I can't see it taking him very long to untangle things once he does."

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed; Xanxus would probably vaporise whoever had done this and then have the Varia fix the hostage problem afterwards. It probably wouldn't take them very long either; that was reassuring.

"So we've just got to play the game and look after each-other!" Takeshi finished brightly.

"I guess." Tsuna did feel better for talking about it though. His friend was right; they probably _wouldn't_ be stuck here for much longer. It had been a month already –almost thirty days– so another two weeks on the outside at most, hopefully. They could manage that; they just had to work together, not take any stupid risks and keep each-other safe.

* * *

_Circles within circles, all of them white… an immense round machine, moving parts gently spinning. The centre openi_–

"_Don't touch it!" _

_A boy his age blocking the way, with messy red hair and wearing thick glasses, a sports shirt, jeans and trainers. No, a _man; _rimless oval glasses framing dark green eyes, red hair still wild and wearing a white uniform with embossed metal plates over the shoulders, a winged crest on the front breast, a winged ring with an oval yellow gem on his right middle finger._

_The same stern expression, full of determined sorrow_–

Tsuna woke with a start, throwing off the blanket covering him; had that been Chrome he'd felt just then? And had that redhead been his cousin Shōichi?

He needed to find Chrome, to see if she had seen it too. Was it breakfast time yet, or had he woken up early?

* * *

There was a leopard in the kitchen. A _huge_ leopard. Going by the Flame-tipped ears Tsuna guessed it was a Box Weapon, but he might be wrong. It was happily devouring a haunch of meat on the far side of the room from the table, after all, and that seemed like real animal behaviour to Tsuna. He'd only delayed coming to eat by ten minutes while he talked to Chrome about the weird dream they'd shared! Where had the leopard come from?!

Gokudera was sat at the table, sulking over his cereal and glaring as Haru, Hana-chan and Kyoko-chan cooed over the animal in between eating their own food. His expression got particularly murderous when the leopard paused in its meal to rub the side of its face against Viola-san's hip as she walked past carrying Tsuna's breakfast.

"Gokudera-kun?"

His friend looked up with a feeble smile as Tsuna accepted his plate and settled in the seat next to him. "Tenth!"

"What's wrong?"

Gokudera glared at Viola-san. "Last night I finally figured out how to use my Box Weapon system! But Viola-san confiscated it because she said I was aggravating my injuries and the stupid cat didn't stop her! Then when I wanted to practice strategies with Uri this morning Viola-san said it was only okay if _she_ let Uri out for me and Uri came out like _that_ rather than cat-shaped!"

Tsuna tried to make sense of that. "The leopard is called Uri?" He'd named it 'melon'?

"Yes, Tenth."

"And," and this was the tricky bit, "it's supposed to be a regular cat? Not a leopard?"

Gokudera hesitated.

"She's a Storm Leopard, they're fairly standard," Viola-san said briskly, "although this one is rather larger than usual, so I think she's been augmented to work off Sun and Cloud Flames as well as Storm."

"Why was she so small before then?" Gokudera grumbled.

"Probably because your Storm affinity is fairly minor," Viola-san said bluntly. "You're almost as much a Lightning as a Storm and have increasingly minor affinities for Rain, Cloud and Sun after that, so even though your overall reserves are only slightly less than Yamamoto's, you're never going to be able to command anywhere close to the same raw power as he can because your focus is split."

"My reserves are _not_ smaller than the baseball idiot's!"

"They are." Viola-san countered smoothly. "Don't take it personally; it's simply genetics at work. Yamamoto has multiple Flame-using ancestors and I believe his father is both Active and shares his affinity. Both your parents on the other hand were Latent and I believe all four of your Grandparents were too and none of them were notable for any particular Affinity, although the Bianchi Family _are_ said to favour Storm. If you work hard for your whole life and marry a strong Active, your eventual children will probably have larger reserves at this age than you do, but unless you marry somebody with a very strong single affinity your children will likely have the same issue of divided focus. If you had Mist as well you'd be a decent enough Sky, since Sky is a balanced combination of the other affinities, but as it stands you'd do better to keep working on precision, versatility and combining multiple affinities for unique effects, rather than go for big flashy wasteful attacks like that ridiculous Box Weapon set you're trying to use creates."

"Do Chrome and Haru-chan have strong affinities?" Tsuna asked as Gokudera flushed furiously red at the insinuations Viola-san had made.

"Yes they do and so does Hana; Haru and Hana both have average reserves but Chrome's are almost on Yamamoto's level. I-Pin is at about Gokudera's level but she is able to create stronger attacks because she is primarily a Sun with only Storm as a secondary. Of course you outclass all of them significantly, Tsuna," she added with a smile, "but part of that is just being a Sky, even without your Flame-using heritage helping matters along."

Tsuna blushed. "W-what about Onī-san and Hibari-san?"

"They're both adults and I never met them as teens, but even now you have more potential at your disposal than they do. Perhaps not more Will," she conceded judiciously, "but certainly deeper reserves. If you can strengthen your determination to win you'll beat Kyōya into the ground despite the difference in age and experience."

"Hieee!"

"What about you?" Gokudera demanded rudely, spoon scraping his bowl aggressively.

Viola-san raised an eyebrow; Tsuna shivered at the sense of threat radiating off her despite the thin smile. "My reserves are _considerably_ deeper than Yamamoto's; both my parents are very powerful Actives and I have been using my Flames from a fairly early age. Once I am fully grown I will likely be able to match Kyōya in raw power; he is another person with a considerable number of powerful Actives in his recent family."

Tsuna had a feeling that Viola-san wasn't telling the full story there, but let it lie. If he poked his nose into Hibari-san's family situation the Cloud would probably beat him unconscious for it. Deciding to leave well alone, he focused on his fish.

"Here you all are!" Adult Onī-san boomed, running into the kitchen. "Sawada! We need to talk strategy! Come to the briefing room!"

"Just Sawada?" Hana-chan asked dryly.

"And Zabini," Adult Onī-san added, grinning sheepishly. "Yamamoto and Chrome are already there."

Oh, so this was a 'strike force only' thing; 'Zabini' had to be Viola-san then. "Surely the others should come too?" Tsuna pointed out tentatively. "Just in case?" He really wasn't sure what the game was going to throw at them, so wasn't it better to have everybody know what was going on?

Adult Onī-san's expression sobered. "The briefing room is not that big, Sawada, but we could fit one more." He looked at I-Pin, who studiously avoided meeting his eyes.

Haru instantly turned to Hana-chan. "Jan ken pon?"

"No, you go; you can give us all the full briefing afterwards, once the _boys_ have finished with the room."

Haru nodded firmly, rising to her feet. "Lead on then Tsuna-kun, hahi!"

* * *

The meeting was rather long and headache-inducing, partly because Tsuna made an effort to memorise as much of map of the Millefiore base as he could; it was all in squares, making it a fairly straightforward campaign map. The problem was that the base was very tall –or maybe 'deep' was a better word– so despite each floor being reasonably straightforward with very few major features, there was a lot of details to string together overall.

There was also the white circular machine he and Chrome had dreamed about on one of the lower levels, which made the dream seem like a game mechanic to point them in the right direction. It _did_ help; the base was _huge_ and a lot of the lower levels seemed to be purely residential with several large laboratories here and there, while the upper layers had a few more laboratories, lots of vehicle hangers, a large data centre, the main server for the base's surveillance systems –both internal surveillance and for Namimori generally– and right on the middle layer was the base's primary generator.

Tsuna guessed having most of those important things all near the top was another game mechanic; if they'd been deeper inside the base then the Vongola would have a much smaller chance to actually succeed in sabotaging it. As it was it was going to be really hard; the files Mukuro had sent them included personnel lists and there were a _lot_ of people on them. Mostly lower-level people, but fighting lots of people in a confined space would be exhausting and leave them less time and strength to escape afterwards.

Or maybe they wouldn't _need_ to escape? In real life they would, but in games it was generally getting _in_ that was the hard part. Once inside and their goals completed, there tended to be exposition and a back door out so you could head directly to the next objective. Tsuna wasn't going to rely on that, but he _was_ going to keep an eye out for exposition.

Hopefully Adult Hibari-san would join them for the raid, even if he wasn't taking part in the planning meetings.

* * *

It turned out Adult Hibari-san was _not_ joining them for the raid, because he'd somehow set a trap for the Millefiore on the other side of town and most of their forces had fallen into it, so they were busy fighting him right now despite it being five o'clock in the morning. It made sense to Tsuna –if all those people had been in the base they'd never had had the ghost of a chance of successfully storming it, so of course the game had fiddled the odds– so he didn't object when Reborn all but tossed him out the door. Having to leave Gokudera behind was hard –especially with Bianchi-san still hanging around the base wanting to talk to him– but the hardest sell was actually Mirch-san. Despite her having already given Viola-san her centipede Box Weapon.

"I am more than capable, Lal," Viola-san said tartly, which was weird because she had Mirch-san's face and voice right now due to Chrome disguising her.

"I know nothing of your skills," the real Mirch-san pointed out. Tsuna wasn't sure what the last-minute change of heart was about; Mirch-san had seemed fine with things yesterday…

Viola-san hummed. "Kyōya knows; he actually seeks me out to spar with, did you know that? Have faith in his ridiculously high standards if can't trust me, won't you?" She sounded more amused than annoyed.

Mirch-san's eyebrow twitched.

Viola-san tried a different tactic, sounding mildly bored this time. "You know my father, Lal; do you _seriously_ think I'd be out here on my own if he didn't _know_ I could utterly crush anyone who tried to hurt me?"

Mirch-san knew Viola-san's father? Had he worked for the CEDEF, like Mirch-san said she had?

"Go then."

Tsuna took this as his cue and led the way, Takeshi, Chrome-as-Gokudera, Viola-san-as-Mirch-san and Adult Onī-san falling in around him. They had new equipment –radios, a mini-screen with a map of the base and new Leon-spun tracksuits that were probably actually real– and everybody seemed confident in their training, So Tsuna was hopeful that they'd get though this and find the next set of Game Objectives.

They _could_ do this. They just had to not get side-tracked.

* * *

Getting into the Millefiore Base meant crawling through the air vents attached to the underground shopping centre's car park; it was a ridiculous action movie cliché and confirmed in Tsuna's mind that this was a fake reality. In real life you _couldn't_ crawl through air vents like this, they weren't big enough and weren't designed to support the weight of anything bigger than maybe a cat.

Okay, so the only reason he knew _that_ was because somebody in class had laughed at him for thinking it was cool, but it was still good to know and more proof that this was definitely a game. That none of the characters had even _questioned_ the suspicious convenience of the enemy base having ventilation ducts large and sturdy enough to crawl through was proof enough, really. That was how game logic worked though.

"We're right above the hanger at point C5 of the third basement level," Viola-as-Mirch-san murmured, adjusting her borrowed goggles. That meant they were in the third level down, which was the highest floor with a central server and generator. The top two levels were actually connected to the electricity mains.

"Good, the map is accurate," Adult Onī-san said quietly. "Let's hope it stays so; our goal is the central installation." Which was on level eight; they'd have to go down quite a lot of service ladders to get there, since the base didn't have any stairs. Several lifts yes, but those weren't exactly safe –they were apparently easily overridden by the computer system– so they were sticking to the ladders in the maintenance areas.

Viola-san paused. "There's a grid of infrared laser sensors ahead."

Lasers? In a ventilation duct? Well, it was thematic. Impractical but thematic; wouldn't the dust set them off? Then again, this was a game so it was very possible there _wasn't_ any dust; why would a person bother to program it in? There'd been dust in some of the empty rooms of the Vongola Base though; maybe dust was a feature of vacant or abandoned areas? Places that weren't being used? Like a, a skin or something?

Viola-san and Adult Onī-san had trained them for the possibility of lasers, but Tsuna had expected to find them in a hallway, not a ventilation duct. At least it meant he knew what to do when Viola-san tossed the special laser-deactivation grenade Giannini had made: wait until it beeped, then move as fast as he could through the affected area.

Adult Onī-san was at the back of the group, but even he made it through safely. Tsuna breathed out in relief, then looked up quickly as his gut twinged. More lasers!

"Everybody out!" Viola-san shouted, red igniting around her fingers as she tore through the bottom of the duct. There was a 'shing' noise –Takeshi drawing his sword– and the five of them dropped like rocks through the duct floor, falling through the air into the hanger below. Tsuna leaned briefly on his Flames to slow his descent, landed in a crouch and glanced around. Chrome-as-Gokudera was sprawled on her side, expression irate –Chrome was clearly having fun emulating how Gokudera would react to having this happen to him– Takeshi was crouched over them with his sword drawn and Viola-as-Mirch-san and Adult Onī-san were bracketing them, already rising to their feet.

"That was close," Chrome-chan said quietly, easing herself off the floor.

"Just made it," Takeshi agreed.

"That shouldn't have happened; we didn't touch the lasers," Viola-san muttered, straightening Mirch-san's cloak.

"That's cuz I pressed the switch," said a gruff male voice.

Tsuna looked up; huge, weird impractical armour and a mohawk. This guy had been in the files: Dendro Chilium, the 'top lancer' of the Millefiore. A Lightning with a very powerful box weapon and a terrible temper; their first opponent. A mini-boss already? He hoped this raid wasn't a continuous chain of boss battles in between objectives.

He'd talked to Takeshi and Chrome yesterday and they'd all agreed to do their best to loot more rings and Box Weapons, both to deny their enemies and to hopefully take back to the Vongola base for the other girls and maybe find something more suitable for Gokudera to use. This guy's Box Weapon had been on Haru-chan's wish list; stealing it shouldn't be too hard.

This was Tsuna's first time using his new and improved Flame attack against a person though –even a fake videogame person– so he'd have to moderate it carefully. Vaporising the wall behind him would be bad and really get them noticed.

* * *

It took Tsuna two tries to defeat Dendro; the first time he underestimated the appropriate Flame intensity and just vaporised the man's lance. Which meant the blustering Lightning took him a bit more seriously and pulled out his Box Weapon, but Tsuna's second attack managed to take out both the man and the gigantic boar, so once Dendro was flat on his back unconscious Tsuna stole his Flame ring and Box Weapon, handing them to Chrome. Chrome could use her Flames to 'send' the trophies back to the base, which was safer than carrying them around; it was almost as good as having a proper game-style 'inventory' rather than just whatever they could fit into their pockets. Haru would be really pleased to get it and so quickly, too.

He was a bit worried about the noise attracting attention, but thankfully nobody else in the base seemed to have noticed the fight: the maintenance corridors were deserted as they descended deeper into the base. Having spent quite a bit of time hiding in maintenance areas before Reborn showed up in his life, Tsuna knew they weren't usually empty: a building this big should have designated maintenance and cleaning staff, who would be constantly moving around and keeping things in order. That the base roster did not include _any_ janitors was another indicator of this being a game; in real life repairs were a constant process, because things broke all the time.

Ladders were also very impractical for janitors, as it meant they couldn't use those little carts, or else had to use the lifts all the time. Tsuna knew a lot about janitors because being No-Good meant limited career options and he'd been told several times –by teachers– that the only job he'd ever get was as a janitor or as a rubbish collector. He honestly didn't think he'd mind being a janitor; it looked restful and everybody was polite to them, because they kept places clean.

They finally got down to the floor with the surveillance server –which would take out the internal systems as well as the jamming that kept them from getting in contact with the people back at the base– when Adult Onī-san noticed he'd injured his elbow fighting Dendro and insisted on fixing it up. With his Box Weapon. Which led to a bit of exposition on how Sun Flames were good for healing, which Tsuna would have liked to know _before_ he freaked out over Adult Onī-san saying he was going to 'burn the wound to stop the bleeding'!

Viola-san just snorted, which okay it probably _did_ sound funny but it wasn't like anybody had ever _told_ him what other kinds of Flame were good for. He definitely needed to ask about that at some point, preferably not during a raid that could very easily be running on a timer. They'd only go unnoticed for so long, no matter how stealthy they were.

Then Adult Onī-san complemented the Flame technique Tsuna had used against Dendro, making Tsuna rub the back of his head sheepishly. "I mean, that was about twenty percent or so?" The problem with it was control; even now he'd solved the backlash issue by recognising that the technique didn't actually need to create any backlash, it was still finicky. Yes, he could blast through walls with it, but that was really wasteful; being able to burn just his target and not the two walls behind it was what he was trying to do now.

"Wow, it's a really super technique!" Takeshi said brightly.

"But, it's really difficult to use on full power? Even though I've sorted out the backlash problem. Besides, that guy wasn't at full power either." Tsuna guessed he'd been a low-level boss, since he'd been the first person they encountered. In games bosses tended to escalate the further you got into them, so mini-boss fit.

"True, Dendro's Flame was not even close to a pure Lightning Flame," Adult Onī-san agreed seriously; oh, more exposition? "So needless to say, he couldn't draw on the full power of his Box. What's important is not the size of the Flame, but its purity."

Grandma had said something like that when talking about why having bigger reserves didn't mean you were necessarily more effective. Mirch-san had said something similar too during training…

"Yeah, that other guy's Lightning Flames were a lot sharper," Takeshi agreed quietly.

"Yes, he's something else, is Lightning Gamma," Viola-san said quietly. "Come on; the scanner indicates there are people on this floor, so we'll have to be more careful."

Tsuna nodded, falling in behind her. She sounded like Mirch-san as well as looking like her, which was really weird when she didn't _talk_ like Mirch-san. She was really good at sneaking though and Adult Onī-san obviously approved of her as a team leader, so he was trying to make note of the things she was doing. It was tricky though, as a lot of it seemed to involve the goggles she'd borrowed from Mirch-san, which included a screen. Having something like that would really help; he'd be able to keep track of things better and not have to keep looking down at the mini-computer thing Giannini had given him when he'd asked for his own copy of the map. He was going into an _enemy base_, of course he wanted a map!

"There're quite a lot of those weird black rooms on this floor," Adult Onī-san commented softly after they had avoided a bored sentry who barely seemed to be paying any attention at all to his surroundings.

"There's one behind this wall," Takeshi agreed, waving at the blank metal wall behind them, marked only by a series of small vents gong up the middle of an oversized opening.

"There's mould in the vents," Chrome said quietly, frowning Gokudera's thinking face as she stepped a little closer.

"That can't be very safe," Tsuna mumbled. Mould could be damaging to people when it was breathed in, Mama said so. "Shouldn't they have cleaned that up?"

"Right now our priority is to destroy the surveillance system's server," Viola-san said quietly, reminding Tsuna of their objective. "Let's hurry."

Tsuna hurried, Takeshi and the others falling in behind. Viola-san had said 'right now' and one thing he'd learned from games was that odd, out-of-place things were usually plot relevant, which suggested that the mould might end up being related to their later objectives. It didn't seem likely to have anything to do with destroying the power centre, so maybe it was something to do with Irie?

They had to cut across another one of the black rooms to get to the server room; Viola-san bypassed the door mechanism somehow and it slid open soundlessly to reveal a huge dark and vacant space. It looked more like they'd just not bothered to put anything in it at all than a proper room; there weren't even any wires that Tsuna could see.

Viola-san flexed her fingers. "Nobody in there," she said quietly. "Not that it means anything when there could be automated systems; wait here while I investigate more closely." She stepped into the gloom. Chrome pulled him over to one side of the door as Takeshi and Adult Onī-san moved to the other side; being framed by the hallway lights was probably a bad thing.

"Scans seem promis– wait."

"What's wrong?" Adult Onī-san asked.

There were a series of explosions and Viola-san backed up to the doorway, rolling her shoulder. "It's barely a bruise, the armour dissipated it," she said sharply, Mirch-san's speech patterns seeping into her tone. There was somebody there?

"Is everything alright?" Tsuna asked urgently, leaning out just far enough to peer into the black room.

"You managed to see through the pattern of randomly multiplying targets and devise a defence in a split second," a high, almost childish voice mused. "As expected from a failed Arcobaleno."

A what? He couldn't mean Viola-san – which meant her disguise was holding which was good– so he had to mean Mirch-san.

There was a faint snap and a little boy in a pointy hat and a cloak was suddenly visible up near the ceiling, wreathed in yellow Flames. His face looked oddly fake.

"Oh, it's _you_," Viola-san said flatly. "Gingerbread I assume? You certainly look like the magician doll."

The fake-looking boy –was he actually a doll of some kind?– landed lightly on the far side of the room. "I no longer go by that name; I'm the vice-captain of the Millefiore's Eighth Squad now. It is my duty to report your presence here to my superiors."

Well there went the element of surprise. Not that Tsuna hadn't expected them to be caught; it always happened in games. A vice-captain sounded like it qualified as a boss-character, though. Not actually a captain though, so maybe another mini-boss?

"Still, killing you here wouldn't be a bad idea either, just like I did to that Colonnello of yours."

It wasn't actually Mirch-san standing there and Tsuna was abruptly grateful that she had let Viola-san come in her place; the real Mirch-san would probably have got angry at somebody saying that to her face.

"What did you do to my teacher?!" Adult Onīsan bellowed, dashing into the room. "How much I trash you will depend on your answer!"

The doll –Viola-san had called it 'Gingerbread'– snickered. "You seem to have gotten the wrong idea. The seven people reputed to be the most powerful, the cursed Arcobaleno babies, all drop like flies when exposed to the non-tri-sette radiation. It's so tedious really; why would I bother to kill him personally? All I did was show him my cruellest smile as I suggested ways to kill him. And then I watched, that's all."

"You bastard!" Adult Onī-san roared.

"Back off Sasagawa," Viola-san said sharply, straightening up. "I will take this one."

Oh. Because Gingerbread thought Viola-san was Mirch-san, so Viola-san would be able to surprise him!

"Wait–"

"Onī-san, let Mirch-san do it!" Tsuna interrupted hastily, not wanting him to give away the disguise.

Adult Onī-san clenched his fists and glanced sideways at him. "Of course, Tenth." He stepped back, so as to rejoin Takeshi, Tsuna and Chrome-as-Gokudera closer to the door.

"Time to have some fun!" Gingerbread cooed, rising into the air again. "However we're only going to have one round, just you and me. Once I've taken care of you I'll report the others to my superiors. I'll probably be bored again by then, after all."

Viola-san dipped her head in a shallow bow, turning half to the side.

There was another finger-snap and then there were spiderwebs everywhere.

"What the heck?!" Takeshi burst out, taking half a step back. "But he didn't pull out a Box at all! He's not wearing any rings either!"

"Mirch-san called him a doll, Baseball idiot," Chrome said sharply. "The box could easily be inside him!"

"What do you think of my sorcery?" Gingerbread boasted smugly. "These spiders are my servants and will inform me if the rest of you are thinking of interfering with our fight. I suggest you not move about too much, or I'll just have to ki–"

There was a muted flash of red, followed by a clatter and Gingerbread was suddenly in a heap on the floor, face cracked and body in several pieces that were on fire. On actual fire, not just covered in Flames.

"Sorcery?" Viola-san scoffed as the spiderwebs evaporated, landing lightly behind what had been her opponent, faint dots of red visible through her goggles as though her eyes were glowing. "Please." She bent down and picked up a Box Weapon from the scattered remains. "No ring –there's probably a focussing gem built into its body somewhere– but this is a Sun Box and actually offensive. He grazed my armour with it earlier; if it had actually been Lal here she'd be in trouble." She sighed, handing over the Box to Chrome. "Whoever was puppetting it isn't here, so let's move on quickly before they sound the alarm."

Fortunately the server room was just through the doors opposite; they quickly planted the charges on the racks and were just heading out through the other door when a siren started blaring.

"Everybody around the corner!" Adult Onī-san said, pushing everybody ahead of him before looking around, darting after them and pushing the detonator. Tsuna slammed his hands over his ears; the explosion was very loud.

"The destruction of the server was a success!" Adult Onī-san said proudly once the noise had died down again; Tsuna peered around the corner at the clouds of oily black smoke emerging from the server room; it smelled like burning plastic. Next to him Chrome coughed.

"On to the main computer installation then!" Takeshi said excitedly.

"W-wait Vi–, er, Mirch-san?" Tsuna asked. "W-what was Gingerbread talking about, calling you a failed Arcobaleno? And talking about cursed babies?" Was Reborn cursed? This seemed like the time to ask, as experience proved that explosions –well, completed objectives– and exposition went together.

"That is a subject for when we are _not_ in the middle of an enemy base," Viola-san said shortly, proving that not _every_ explosion would be followed by exposition. "Let's move on."

At that moment there was a humming scraping noise; they all turned and saw a barrier coming down over the entrance of a nearby hanger.

"They've started to close the doors along the main route," Adult Onī-san commented.

"That's my cue then," Viola-san said briskly, straightening her cloak and tapping the side of her goggles. "You all head for the main computer installation by the back passages while I go be decoy."

Tsuna felt a lot better about leaving Viola-san behind as a decoy after seeing her flatten Gingerbread. Viola-san was clearly a high-level character and she wasn't status debuffed like Gingerbread implied the actual Mirch-san was. "Okay, see you later then!" He said firmly. "Remember to use the radio so we can join you once we start heading out again." He wasn't sure that would actually happen –game mechanics and all that– but keeping in contact with the rest of the party still mattered.

"You're heading down to the flume on the edge of level ten, right?" Takeshi checked.

"That's right; sabotage there would be a priority, since being underground means flooding is a major concern," Viola-san said briskly, turning her back and darting away between the pipes. "Remember, it's the central computer installation and then that white machine!"

Tsuna didn't think he was going to forget.

* * *

Of course, the main passageways being closed meant more crawling through air ducts on the way to service ladders. Large, sturdy and dust-free air ducts; not that Tsuna was complaining, it was just terribly convenient. In a real life enemy base they'd probably have had to melt through the doors or something.

"Okay, we've dealt with the central server so on to the round machine. There's a back way into an exhibition hall on this level we can cut across," Takeshi murmured, poring over the map as Adult Onī-san helped Chrome out of the duct. "That'll shorten the distance to the next service hatch."

Tsuna paused; he had a feeling… "There might be somebody nearby?" He whispered. He could almost hear something, he was sure of it.

Adult Onī-san nodded, lifting a finger to his lips as they inched towards the door. Tsuna exchanged a glance with Chrome –had they been found?– and let Takeshi take the lead.

The door opened; Takeshi immediately stepped into the doorway, Chrome-as-Gokudera dropping to one knee to be able to see past him.

There was a choking noise and a thud; Tsuna peeked past and smothered a squeak at the bleeding body sprawled on the floor, dressed in a black uniform.

"..my bear," the man on the floor rasped before going still.

"Those tattoos; that's the demon bear user, Nigella Bearbunker," Adult Onī-san hissed, leaning over Tsuna.

"I've been waiting for you," said another voice, echoing slightly across the open space. The man was _floating_ on a carpet that seemed to be held up by Storm Flames in the corners –a Box Weapon maybe? A _carpet_ Box Weapon was a very weird idea– and was wearing all white, including a large white turban. He also had a large necklace on with several more Box Weapons threaded on it.

"We request thy flesh and blood," turban-guy droned. Tsuna racked his brain; he'd been that turban in the Squad listings, he was sure…

"His carpet is floating!" Takeshi sounded very surprised.

"Who cares!" Chrome-as-Gokudera shouted. "Why was one of the Millefiore guys just killed?"

Yes, that was probably important; bad guys killing their own people wasn't usual, or if it was it was usually a plot mechanic to let you recruit one faction or the other to the protagonist's 'side.'

"It's Nigella Bearbunker, the demon bear user," Adult Onī-san repeated. "He fights with a bear Box Weapon; I've heard he's pretty tough."

Tsuna knelt down next to the man; sure enough, there was an open Box Weapon in one of his hands and a ring on the other. A winged ring like Glo Xinia's, but with a purple stone; the Cloud boss?

A susurrus echoed around the room, and then a gigantic bear's paw wrapped in red Flame dropped to the floor from behind some floating screens. It evaporated; by Tsuna's knee, the purple Box Weapon clicked shut. Something thudded against the screens, cracking them; Tsuna quickly scooped up the Box Weapon, tugged the ring off the unconscious man's finger and slid both into his pocket before getting to his feet again.

"What the hell's in there?" Takeshi wondered as the screen collapsed to the floor, shattering and throwing up a cloud of dust.

The dust cleared; face to face with a _gigantic_ snake alight with Storm Flames, Tsuna rather wished it hadn't.

"Those Flames –it's a Box Weapon!"

"A giant snake!"

The turban man chuckled, his voice much lower than Gingerbread's had been. "That's right, meet serpente tempesta," he said, tone mocking. "From the look of satisfaction on his face, he enjoyed the taste of Nigella's demon bear."

Tsuna guessed that, since Box Weapons were a projection, what the guy _meant_ was that the snake had eaten all the Flames powering the bear projection. So to get it out of the Box again, whoever powered it up would have to put in quite a bit of Flames to recharge its batteries.

"It _ate_ the Box Weapon?"

"That is so. My Box is the newest creation of the Box-maker Koenig," turban-guy continued. "It has the ability to grow by feeding on other Box Weapons and its fighting power will also grow accordingly."

So yes, it did basically steal all the Flames from the other Box, which explained why the Box had closed; it had run flat and shut down like a mobile phone with no battery.

"A Box that can eat things?" Takeshi muttered.

"It's not unheard of," Adult Onī-san pointed out. "Octopus head's kitty was eating too." He paused, side-eyeing Chrome-as-Gokudera who looked gobsmacked. "What's up, C–Octopus head?"

"What do you mean? Look at it!" Chrome burst out, eyes wide and tone enthusiastic. "That form; it's not _just_ a giant snake! It's a mystical beast that can only be found in Japan! The Tsuchinoko!"

Yes, Gokudera was really interested in cryptids, wasn't he? Chrome was really making an effort to impersonate Gokudera properly.

"Ah, yes, a real tsuchinoko was discovered three years ago though," Adult Onī-san commented.

"Seriously?!"

Tsuna agreed; mythical beasts being coincidentally 'discovered' to make unusual Box weapons sounded _very_ fake.

"We request thy flesh and blood," turban-guy repeated, smirking.

Tsuna straightened up as on either side of him the others did the same.

"But why consume a comrade's Box?" Takeshi asked. "Dissension within, maybe?" Yes, that was important to ask, just in case there was exposition.

Their opponent laughed. "Comrade? What an absurd idea!" Ah, so there _was_ exposition here. "We of the White Spell do not consider the Black Spell to be of equal standing. We are the light, the chosen ones that shall seize the future. They are obsolete weapons of a decaying past! In our world order the inferior exist only to be exploited by the elite; the same applies to you Vongola, antiquated and stale."

Okay, so if they were going to be able to 'recruit' any Millefiore people, they'd be Black Spell like Gamma and the two guys with the scythes had been.

"So there is dissent within the Millefiore as well," Adult Onī-san said steadily. "But whatever your reasons may be, it is unforgiveable to turn on someone who has fought beside you." He activated his Box Weapon.

Well if Adult Onī-san was fighting, he was probably going to win and it also probably wouldn't take very long. Tsuna took a few steps back as the giant snake was launched into the far wall; best not to get in the way.

* * *

Turban-guy –Adult Onī-san called him Baishana– lost his nerve halfway through the fight and called for reinforcements, but got defeated anyway. Chrome-chan then stole his ring and Box Weapons and they all hurried across the hall towards the storage room with the next service hatch. Irie knew where they were now, so there'd be a lot more attackers coming after them.

They were halfway along the corridor, Tsuna in the lead with Chrome next to him and Adult Onī-san and Takeshi a few steps behind to keep an eye out at the rear, when everything started shaking.

"It's an earthquake!" Takeshi shouted, listing and staggering sideways. Then the floor abruptly split, Adult Onī-san and Takeshi vanishing downwards.

"Takeshi!"

"Tsuna!"

It was all too fast to react to; Chrome dragged him back from the edge as the open corridor was replaced by a steel wall.

Tsuna fumbled for his map. They were… here. Right here; on the boundary between two of the square grid sections. Well if the box sections could _move_ that might explain why everything was neatly mapped on a grid, and why there were empty black sections on each floor. It didn't look or sound like anything had broken when Adult Onī-san and Takeshi had vanished downwards after all…

"Where to now, Boss?" Chrome asked, still looking and sounding like Gokudera.

"Well, if nothing _else_ has moved, the room with the hatch heading down should be on the other side of this door," Tsuna said, waving down what was left of the hallway. He didn't believe it for a moment though; clearly this was the next difficulty level. More worrying was that Takeshi was off on his own somewhere. Well, with Adult Onī-san, but that was less comforting when he might be swapped with the real Onī-san at any moment and the real Onī-san was injured and didn't know what was going on.

It was Takeshi; he would be _fine_. He'd trained lots and knew what mattered here.

The door opened; Tsuna cautiously approached it.

"Hey you, what the hell? Was that an earthquake?" Oh no. Tsuna _should have remembered_ that in computer games, characters with important exposition couldn't die until after they'd done their exposition! No matter _how_ dead they looked!

He was going to have to fight Gamma _and_ get the exposition somehow, or else they'd lose!

"Him again," Chrome-as-Gokudera said tightly.

Gamma smirked. "Hey there."

"Still alive then?" Chrome drawled defiantly; Tsuna could tell it was a front though. They'd both seen what a mess Gamma had made of Takeshi.

"Wait, don't you think it's strange?" Tsuna said, drawing Gamma's attention to himself. There was exposition, he _knew_ there was exposition, so they had to get the exposition before they could win the fight. It might even be a tiered fight, where they had to get through the first bit in order to get more exposition before eventually getting a chance to win. Their main advantage right now was that Gamma thought Chrome was Gokudera, and the thinness and obvious scars made it look like 'he' was far less capable than was actually true. Plus, much as Tsuna hated to admit it, _he_ was the heavy hitter in this fight. Chrome might end up being the person to _win_ the fight, but he'd have to give her openings for that. "This is supposed to be a storage room." A _small_ storage room.

"Now you mention it," Chrome agreed, visibly glancing around at the black container-things around them as she settled into a more solid stance. "What _is_ this place?"

Gamma huffed quietly. "You're not the only one surprised," he admitted easily. "I was just headed to the control room; it's in the opposite direction to the exhibition room where you were."

"What?!" How did that even work?! Had they both got lost?

"Looks like this is what this place's weird construction is for," Gamma went on; oh good, so there _was_ exposition.

"What are you on about?" Chrome-as-Gokudera demanded; Tsuna glanced at her; they couldn't keep up the deception for much longer, but right now it seemed to be helping. It probably wouldn't in a fight though, since Chrome didn't have Gokudera's Box Weapons.

"All right, I guess I'll tell you; you are still guests after all." Tsuna got the impression that Gamma didn't really _care_ that they'd broken in and blown up a bunch of stuff. Maybe it was because he was Black Spell, like turban-guy had talked about?

"It's camouflaged, but every last inch of this place, length, width and height, is divided into squares." Oh, so Tsuna _was_ right; the base was designed like a puzzle. "Pretty much every area can be divided into cubes, and on each floor there's at least one empty cube. In other words, this place is a 3D puzzle. If you move the pieces left or right, or up or down, you can rearrange the floor plan however you want it."

"So the black rooms were empty spaces?" Tsuna checked, hoping to delay the fight further.

"Does the mould in the cracks have anything to do with things?" Chrome asked.

Gamma frowned; Tsuna got a sense of sudden awareness off him, twinned with persistent unhappiness.

"Now, this is payback for what the older you did to me," he said flatly, glaring at Chrome-as-Gokudera. Tsuna frantically mimed a cutting motion at waist height; the disguise wasn't helping anymore so it had to go.

The slight flinch from their opponent when Gokudera dissolved in indigo sparkles to reveal Chrome in her tracksuit reassured Tsuna that he'd made the right decision.

"How old are you?"

Chrome lifted her chin mulishly. "I will be thirteen in December, Lightning Gamma-san." Her voice was soft but firm. She hadn't Conjured her trident yet, but if it really came to a fight she probably would.

"I'm fighting little girls now," Gamma mumbled, another slight flinch ringing through him. "You don't look any older, Vongola Tenth."

"Hey! I'm f-fourteen!" He didn't look _twelve,_ did he?

Gamma snorted. "That's not much of an improvement from where I'm standing, Vongola," he drawled.

"W-w-well, getting dumped in this lunatic apocalyptic alternate universe thing wasn't my idea either!" Maybe they could solve this without fighting after all?

Gamma cocked his head sideways. "Alternate universe, hm? I thought you were from the past."

Tsuna looked him in the eye. "Back home, I'm not Vongola Tenth," he said steadily.

Gamma's eyes lidded ever so slightly. "The rings on your fingers say otherwise." Gamma had a ring on too; another of those winged rings. Definitely a game boss then.

"What, you don't believe the Vongola had spares?" Tsuna demanded wildly. "There was a traditional Ring Battle and I _lost_; these are the original family rings from _before_ Giotto got given the fancy Vongola set!"

Gamma seemed to get more from his words than Tsuna was aware of having said; he blinked and laughed outright. "All this effort and plotting and the full tri-ni-sette is _still_ beyond his reach!" He managed to spit out before doubling over in unpleasantly hysterical laughter.

Tsuna shifted awkwardly; this wasn't fun. He didn't like this. This guy was _really_ uncomfortable to be around, like he was radiating pain. Still, this was better than fighting him, right?

"So, who _does_ have the Vongola rings where you come from?" Gamma asked, straightening up and leaning back against the metal containers behind him.

"Xanxus."

Gamma snorted. "I can only imagine how different things would have been if Xanxus di Varia had been the Vongola Tenth," he said wistfully, eyes sliding up to the ceiling. "Our princess might never have needed to meet with Byakuran."

"P-princess?" Tsuna asked cautiously. That sounded like another exposition hook.

Gamma started slightly, looking back down at him. "Well, I may as well tell you the story," he murmured, shoving his hands in his packets and slouching forwards. "It's not like I have _orders_ after all, and talking delays you just as much as fighting would."

Tsuna side-eyed Chrome, trying to think loudly that he wanted her to be poised to ambush Gamma somehow once the exposition was over. Maybe she could make him fall asleep? Having him fall unconscious without needing to be beaten into the ground first would be _great_.

"Well, I suppose it all begins with the Vongola," Gamma said, leaning forwards and rocking slightly on his feet. "The Vongola and you. Well, the local version of you, at least."

This was _definitely_ key exposition.

"It was, oh, a bit over four years ago that my Sky, the Donna Aria Giglio Nero, died," Gamma continued, pain spasming across his face like an open wound. "The Vongola, our allies, had disarmed on their Don's orders, so they were no help. The Giglio Nero stronghold was attacked by the Gesso and we had all split up and been forced to flee to a safe house. I arrived to find my Sky dead; the strain of supporting the Arcobaleno Curse compounding on the stresses of battle was too much for her."

There was the mention of a curse again; Tsuna bit his tongue so as not to interrupt.

"I wasn't there; I failed her," Gamma said, voice so quiet it almost vanished into the space around them. "But Yuni was; Yuni, the daughter my Sky had never mentioned she had. Yuni, who had inherited the Sky Pacifier from her mother. Yuni, who was six years old and my new Donna. Yuni, who tried so hard to smile despite having just discovered that her mother was dead and that she had to lead a mafia family. She was our princess and we all adored her." He sighed. "But it didn't last."

"Byakuran?" Chrome guessed.

"Byakuran," Gamma agreed, a dark, venomous note entering his voice. "Three months after our princess became our boss, Genkishi tried to bargain with the Gesso, to get them to leave us alone for a few years. He suggested a duel: himself as the Giglio Nero's champion against a champion of the Gesso's choice. But the Gesso hired Squalo Superbi as their champion and Genkishi lost and almost died, so Yuni decided to go and speak to Byakuran herself, to prevent any more deaths." He sighed. "I didn't want her to go. The Gesso were too powerful and Yuni was only a little girl! The Giglio Nero had other allies, surely we could broker a deal with one or other of them for mutual protection, something, _anything_ but this. But she insisted. She said Byakuran was too powerful for anybody other than her to face."

"What were the Vongola doing?" Tsuna asked cautiously.

Gamma snorted. "Disintegrating," he said darkly. "The Vongola Tenth was floundering around trying to hold the Alliance together after having destroyed the Vongola Rings, so none of them had any time for outsiders. All too busy arguing amongst themselves, divided between those trying to suck up to the Tenth, those pursuing their own ambitions and those trying to get Xanxus to step in. But Xanxus hasn't bothered with Vongola politics in over a decade; more interested in his wife and kids and making sure nobody interferes with how he runs the Varia."

That… sounded not at _all_ like Xanxus, really. Then again, if they'd made this fake Xanxus more like the _real_ Xanxus then Byakuran would probably never have managed to become such a big threat to the Vongola in the first place. Letting an enemy of the Vongola hire _Squalo_ of all people to defeat a Vongola Ally was _not_ Xanxus's kind of thing.

"So what happened when you went to meet Byakuran?" Tsuna asked, hoping he hadn't derailed the exposition too badly.

"Bearbunker, Catrín, Marsi and I accompanied her," Gamma went on, "and we met Byakuran. He asked to talk to our princess in private, and she agreed. I tried to stop her, but…" he sighed. "She was so _confident_. The Giglio Nero Donnas have the gift of foresight; they can see into the future. For her to be so confident, I was sure she had seen a favourable outcome. And so I let her go." He closed his eyes, pain spasming across his face again. "I will never forgive myself for it."

Tsuna didn't dare say anything.

"When she came out of the meeting her smile was gone and she said that our family would be merging with the Gesso," Gamma said, eyes hazy with memory and tone achingly hopeless. "She treated me like a stranger, when before she acted as though I was a favourite uncle. Her eyes were flat and empty, no will or personality to be seen. I tried to kill Byakuran then and there," he admitted, "but Yuni wouldn't let me. She said I would have to kill her first. And here we are."

"So only the Black Spell, the ones with uniforms like yours, are your comrades?" Chrome asked.

"Ha! No," Gamma admitted. "There are those who share my uniform who are _not_ my comrades; they are traitorous scum who sold us out to the Gesso. The most dangerous of those is Genkishi."

"Genkishi, who lost to Squalo?" Tsuna checked.

"Genkishi, who lost on purpose," Gamma agreed softly. "He is the Giglio Nero's greatest traitor, although I'll admit he is the greatest swordsman of this time. Well," he amended, "the greatest _known_ swordsman. I've been hearing rumours of a rash of sword-related deaths among Millefiore foot-soldiers back in Europe and central Asia that don't have anybody's name attached to them." He straightened up. "Well, the surveillance systems have probably been rebooted by now, so I will have to actually fight you if I want to avoid getting into trouble with Irie."

Tsuna glanced sideways and realised Chrome was nowhere to be seen. Gamma didn't seem to have noticed –she'd probably made him forget she'd even been there– so Tsuna didn't comment on it.

"If you attack me, I will defeat you," he promised. Chrome was depending on him!

"You're a wet behind the ears brat," Gamma said ruefully, "and at least five years too early to beat me, Sky or not."

Well, they would see about _that_.

* * *

It was a fairly short fight in the end; Chrome made Gamma fall unconscious after two attacks –he used pool cues and floating snooker balls, which was a really _strange_ weapon– and caught him as he keeled over, lowering him gently to the floor.

"Boss? Do I take his ring and Boxes?"

Tsuna bit his lip. Should he? He had a feeling… "No," he decided. "He's not really our enemy." More importantly, "How are we going to find the round machine with the floor plan all different?" The map implied it was on one of the lower floors, but was it still there?

"We have time, boss," Chrome assured him. "I'm keeping up an illusion of a fight here, to fool the sensors and cameras, so nobody will come in for a while."

Okay that helped. They still needed to find Takeshi and Adult Onī-san and the machine though. They needed to complete their goals before leaving the base.

"You don't have much time left."

"Reborn?!" What was he doing here?!

"Ciaossu." It really was Reborn; where had be come from? Was it a trick of some kind? Tsuna had thought Reborn couldn't leave the base due to radiation!

"He's a hologram," Chrome said, hopping off the container Gamma had been standing on for part of the fight and walking closer.

"It's a function of your headphones," Reborn agreed; "I'm broadcasting from inside the Vongola Base."

Well that did explain why Reborn looked a bit transparent; it was also very videogame, having a hologram mentor to guide you.

"It's why your headphones are so much bigger than everyone else's," the tiny hitman continued. "I wanted to surprise you sooner, but the signal was bad, and then you were busy fighting and I didn't want to distract you. Well done with Lightning Gamma, by the way; that was an excellent strategy."

Tsuna went pink. Reborn thought he'd done well!

"D-do you know where everybody else is?"

"Viola is on the fifth floor with someone she described as a contact, so they were either in league with her already or have been suborned," Reborn said, "and Takeshi's signal is much weaker, but it places him on the fifteenth floor."

"T-the fifteenth floor?!" They were only on the tenth floor! How had he got that far down so quickly? He'd seen Takeshi and Adult Onī-san's box go down, but he hadn't realised it had gone _that_ far down!

"Can we talk to Viola-san, Reborn-san?" Chrome asked.

Yes, that was a really good idea. "C-can we talk to her contact as well? To ask more about the round machine?"

"I will put you through," Reborn agreed, which was basically the hitman approving their plan.

"Hey there Tsuna, Chrome."

"Hi Viola-san, are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine. You had questions?"

"I was w-wondering if the person with you knew anything about the round machine?" Reborn projected a picture of it while he asked, which really helped as 'a round machine' wasn't really a very helpful description now Tsuna thought about it.

"Answer the question, Spanner." Viola-san's contact was called Spanner? Was that a first name or a family name? It being Viola-san, it was probably a personal name or nickname. She was very familiar.

"That's in Shōichi's laboratory," an unfamiliar and slightly foreign-sounding man said, sounding like he had something in his mouth. He also sounded a lot like Older Lambo. "I heard a while back that he was messing around with subspace energy."

"Why would he do that?" Reborn mused.

"I couldn't say," Spanner replied, "but it has something to do with the relationship between time and space. They called it time travel."

Time travel? Time travel! That was what the game was pretending to be!

"So this is the connection," Reborn mused. "Irie researching time travel, so as to return to the past for his target, the Vongola Rings."

"So Irie is our only way back home," Tsuna determined, hardening his resolve. It was entirely possible that things would go wrong before they got to the machine, but at least now they had an indication that it might be _possible_ to escape this place without just waiting to be rescued from outside.

"I have a feeling Irie isn't the root cause of all this," Reborn cautioned him, "and if this clue is correct, this time travel machine will reveal some deeper connections."

Reborn was right; videogames were rarely this straightforward and there was usually a twist towards the end of a level or just before the conclusion. Still, they were getting somewhere.

"So we need to capture Irie and the round machine to get him to return us home." Although Tsuna wasn't sure how they'd be able to move the machine...

There was a crash; Tsuna looked around frantically, then realised it was happening somewhere else. "Too late," said a woman's voice over the radio, "because you're going to sleep here forever."

"Catch you later," Viola-san said briskly. "Go find Takeshi, Tsuna; odds are he and Ryōhei have run into Genkishi." The connection went dead.

"So, the fifteenth floor, boss?"

Tsuna nodded; Genkishi was another boss, possibly the biggest one in the base seeing as Gamma had specifically warned them about him. "Will the illusion of a fight stay up here without us?"

"It would be better if you used a big area attack to destroy the cameras and sensors, boss," Chrome suggested. "That way they wouldn't be able to tell we are gone and will waste time looking for us here as well."

"Okay. Can you show me where they are?" Tsuna blinked as indigo swam briefly before his eyes, then resolved itself into a web of glowing dots on the walls and ceiling all around them. Right. This was going to take something a bit more diffuse than his crystalline Flame X-burner attack…

* * *

Actually getting down to the fifteenth floor proved surprisingly easy: Chrome was no longer pretending to be Gokudera, so she disguised them both as Millefiore foot-soldiers. They just walked right down the hall with the rest of a patrol Conjured around them, using a lift to take them down into the depths of the base.

It felt like cheating. Then again, this whole game thing wasn't exactly trying to be _fair_, so Tsuna didn't think it mattered. What _did_ matter was getting to Takeshi in time. He wasn't answering, even though Tsuna was trying to call him while they were in the lift. Adult Onī-san wasn't answering either…

A shudder went through the lift, as though sections of the base were moving again, but it faded away quickly and Tsuna breathed a silent sigh of relief. No move moving rooms, thank goodness. They arrived at the fifteenth floor without any delays and Tsuna let Chrome lead the way out of the lift; she was controlling the illusions so it made sense to have her at the front. Plus this way he could surprise people who thought she was alone rather than having an ally hidden among the illusions.

Reaching an intersection, Tsuna had to bite his lip to keep from crying out; Adult Onī-san was slumped in the doorway at the end of the hall ahead! And that was Takeshi past him, lying face-down and not moving! Oh no! Takeshi had to be okay!

_Go on ahead, boss,_ Chrome's voice rang in his head, _I'll take care of them. Genkishi must be inside_.

Tsuna felt the illusion covering him melt away and darted forwards, moving Adult Onī-san carefully to one side and peering into the room beyond. He had to stifle another squeak at the spiked curve taking up most of the space; that was Hibari-san's Box Weapon!

Well, getting Takeshi out of the way had just got more important. Tsuna crouched over him, trying to remember the little triage ditty Viola-san had hammered into his head. Takeshi was breathing okay and his pulse was there, but he had a terrible bruise on his forehead that was bleeding; it looked like he'd been knocked unconscious. Tsuna carefully slid a hand down his friend's neck, remembering what Viola-san had told him about supporting potentially broken bones with Sky Flames.

"You have to focus on keeping everything in place," she'd told him. Doing so while rolling Takeshi over and carefully dragging him out of the room was–

Hibari-san's Box Weapon exploded; Tsuna curled himself around Takeshi's upper body and tried to cushion himself with Flames as they were thrown violently down the corridor.

_Boss! Are you okay? _

Tsuna eased himself out of the dent in the wall, lowering Takeshi gently to the floor. He thought he was okay? Nothing seemed to ache, at least. He rolled his shoulders and bounced lightly on his knees. Whatever _that_ had been, he should probably investigate.

Wait, was that talking he could hear now?

"...ever seen one of these before?" That was not a familiar voice.

"A music box?" That was Hibari-san. Not Adult Hibari-san, _actual_ Hibari-san. Oh no!

"If that's so, then this will be a perfect victory." That had to be Genkishi, and Hibari-san didn't know anything about him! Didn't even have a ring to let him open a Box Weapon with!

Sidling into the room again –it looked a lot like the room they'd fought Gamma in– Tsuna felt Mist Flames prickle against his skin. So Genkishi was a Mist; well with a name like that, it made sense. A Mist swordsman then. He was getting a lot better at ignoring illusions now, but going by Hibari-san's wide eyes he didn't know what he was seeing was only made of Flames, and the problem with Mist was that if you didn't know it wasn't real, it _could_ hurt you.

Dashing forwards, Tsuna focused on calling on his Will and Flames to _shield_.

The explosion caught him by surprise; what, there'd been real explosives in there? Luckily he'd been focused on creating a proper solid shield that would keep other Flames out, so it had worked against the explosions too.

"Truant small animal." Oh no! He should have remembered Hibari-san would be upset with him for missing school!

"H-Hibari-san, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get abducted!" Tsuna blurted out, spinning around to face the Cloud.

The prefect's eyes narrowed. "Abducted?"

"Somebody stole Lambo-chan's special bazooka and is using it to abduct Vongola-connected people in Namimori," Tsuna said quickly, trying to focus on the bits that would matter to Hibari-san. "Time in here is ten times faster than outside; it's a Territory, I think Maínomai-san explained them?" He was sure he'd heard them mentioned while Hibari-san was sparring with different Varia… "There's supposed to be a round white machine here that would let us get home, but everything is a lot like a videogame in making us fight people and get exposition from people." He fished in his pocket. "Here, Hibari-san; you need a ring and Flames to open Box Weapons with."

The prefect accepted the ring and slipped it on, immediately sparking purple off it. "You are being targeted, small animal?"

"Vongola Tenth, at last." Oh dear, the smoke had faded enough for Genkishi to see him! Tsuna spun around, lifting up his hands defensively, then hesitated as Hibari-san stepped past him, jacket swinging gently.

Hibari-san then exploded purple; Tsuna swayed. Hibari-san's Will was just as strong as Adult Hibari-san's had been! Except that Hibari-san was _angry_ as well, which was making his Flames even stronger!

Wait, behind! Tsuna spun, calling up his shielding technique again and flinching at the strength of the explosion.

"Saved by your Sky again," Genkishi mused. "But there won't be a next time."

Tsuna blinked furiously, trying to dispel the spots dancing before his eyes. He'd not managed a very good shield that time, he'd been hurrying too much. Oh, and he was hungry; how long had they been down here now?

"My Sky? Who," Hibari-san asked, tone ominously level, "is that?"

Tsuna refused to say a word. Hibari-san was not his _anything_. He had _no_ claim on Hibari-san, the prefect was his own person!

The pressure of the Cloud Flames around them increased _again_; where was Hibari-san getting all this _from_?!

"As Bucking Horse said," Hibari-san mused, tone still terrifyingly even, "the way to increase the Flames being channelled is to be _pissed off_."

Wait, that wasn't right. Mirch-san said it was to do with a person's Will! Reborn had said that too!

Unless of course, for Hibari-san, 'to be resolved' meant 'to be really angry.' Which… worked, based on what Tsuna had seen of the prefect. He got angry when people crowded, which made him resolved to make them _stop_ crowding.

"Small animal, you are truthful. I will defeat the knight." Tsuna turned just in time to see Hibari-san press his vibrantly glowing ring into the side of one of Adult Hibari-san's Box Weapons. "I have seen it, so I know how to use it."

The Box glowed in a way Tsuna had never seen before, opened… and Hibari-san's hedgehog belly-flopped out of it onto the ground. It squeaked, swayed and yawned, glowing faintly purple as its spikes lengthened and shrunk randomly. Was it… drunk? Was this what happened if you put _too much_ Flames in a Box Weapon?

Hibari-san dropped to one knee, mouth twitching up into a smile, and offered the hedgehog his hand. The Box Animal suddenly noticed him, its eyes shining happily, and lurched towards him; one of the longer spikes pierced Hibari-san's hand.

The hedgehog saw the blood and _wailed_. Then there were spiky purple balls everywhere and Hibari-san was backing into him, firmly steering him away.

The balls grew at incredible speed, blocking Genkishi from view and embedding themselves in the walls around them. The wailing continued, multiplied several times over and making Tsuna cringe. Hibari-san stood firm in front of him, tonfa faintly purple, and slammed a heavy blow into the nearest spiked ball.

The blow launched all the balls into motion, firing them across the room towards where Genkishi was probably still standing. But still more balls were appearing, all huge with long, sharp spikes, and Tsuna heard the walls around them groan under the strain.

The walls didn't hold for very long; Tsuna quickly put up another shield overhead and hoped that Chrome was doing likewise with Takeshi and Adult Onī-san. She would be; she'd have seen this coming just as much as he had. Whatever had set Hibari-san's Box Weapon off, it clearly wasn't going to stop any time soon.

They needed to get out of here before the spiked balls destroyed the floor as well. "Hibari-san, Chrome and Yamamoto Takeshi are over there with Adult Sasagawa Ryōhei," Tsuna explained hurriedly, waving an arm. "We can take another route to the round machine; Genkishi will come looking for us, I'm sure." He was the last boss before their objective, so they weren't going to be able to avoid him.

Hibari glared, then nodded, face smoothing out. "Very well, small animal."

Tsuna wasn't sure what was up with that epithet –Hibari-san had always called him 'herbivore' before now– so just nodded, darting to the side towards where the door had been, where he could sense Chrome's Flames.

"Ah, boss! And Hibari-san," Chrome said, clutching her trident; clearly she'd needed it in the face of Hibari-san's Box Weapon going berserk. "I think I can carry Takeshi, but Sasagawa-san is too awkward and he's injured as well."

Hibari-san crouched and slung Adult Onī-san over his back, like the man didn't weigh anything. Tsuna helped Chrome with Takeshi and they all headed back down the corridor at a jog; Tsuna was uncomfortably aware of the groaning and screeching of metal all around them.

"Which way?"

Tsuna quickly pulled out his map. "This way!" He said, pointing to the left; none of the blocks had moved yet but surely it was only a matter of time…

The floor under their feet started to vibrate; Tsuna ran faster, then stopped dead as a door slammed down so close behind him that he tripped over on his face. Rolling over, he stared back at the door in horror. They'd been separated! What should he–

"Chrome and Hibari will be fine," Reborn said firmly, the hologram of the hitman reappearing beside him in true videogame fashion. "They can defend the others together. Remember, the round machine is your goal."

Yes, it was. Clearly this was the final difficulty level and he was going to have to face it alone. But if so, then Tsuna was doing it on his own terms. He was tired of being shunted around like a pinball in an arcade game; running ahead to the sealed wall at the other end of this section, he called up his Flames into short blade-like shapes and plunged them into the metal.

Time to move a bit more quickly than running.

* * *

Of course, he ran into Genkishi barely twenty seconds after taking flight; Tsuna wasn't sure what else he'd expected. Except that rather than looking like a regular guy with old-fashioned eyebrows, now the Mist looked like a gigantic armoured knight. _Definitely_ a two-stage boss; Hibari-san had dealt with stage one, so now it was up to him to finish things.

No, wait, an illusion!

Raising his hand, Tsuna parried the sword-stroke with the metal plate on the back of his glove, all his momentum slamming into his opponent. Who skidded, twisted and disengaged; Tsuna stayed floating in the air, not taking his eyes off the Mist. Harmony made floating effortless, so it wasn't even wasteful of his reserves.

"Even though I want to say, 'he saw through it?' my opponent is a Vongola who has hyper intuition," Genkishi said calmly. "I'm not surprised."

He was floating too. An aerial battle then?

Wait, Genkishi was a _swordsman_ who had fought against _Squalo_. Just because to Tsuna it looked like he had four swords sheathed at his belt, it didn't mean that was true. It meant Genkishi might be using Mist to _hide_ his swords. Tsuna pushed his own Flames out around him, willing them to force away any Flames belonging to others.

His opponent's eyes widened; Tsuna shifted backwards out of reach as all four blades came into focus, one in each hand and one on each foot.

"Very observant," Genkishi conceded as armour coalesced around him. "However, Byakuran-sama specifically instructed me to crush you with all I have. Byakuran-sama's order is a god's decree; it cannot be turned aside!"

Well. That at least made things simple. Tsuna narrowed his eyes, trembling in the face of the strength of Will being brought to bear against him; he _would_ win, so that he and his friends could go home again!

"You can feel my strength," Genkishi continued languidly. "You know how far above you I stand. If you stop fighting, I will grant you a peaceful death. You are not so stupid as to resist me, are you, Vongola Tenth?"

Tsuna gritted his teeth. He was _not_ the Vongola Tenth, but he wasn't just going to lie down and _die_ either! He didn't _need_ to be Vongola Tenth! He was _**enough**_!

"I understand your strength," he managed to say past the crushing pressure in the air, dropping down so his feet were planted on something solid, "but even so," he made eye contact, calling up his Flames, "I want to fight."

This attack was four times more powerful than Tsuna had ever dared bring to bear against a person before.

Genkishi wasn't expecting it at all.

* * *

Tsuna wasn't expecting the armoured skeleton that attacked him out of the rubble either though.

"Ahahaha!" It cackled at him. "I am now invulnerable! Come, let me dig your eyeballs out!"

Dodge. Duck. Punch.

This was _definitely_ a tiered boss fight; whatever this thing was, it felt only very slightly like Genkishi. Or maybe Genkishi had felt a bit like it? Tsuna didn't actually care.

Circle, punch. Duck.

He wasn't going to lose.

Not even when the monster-thing punched him in the face; it wasn't actually strong, not really. Just angry. And anger wasn't any good in a fight unless it was well-controlled; Xanxus had shown him that. Xanxus whose anger was utterly under his control; unlike Gokudera, who flailed around whenever somebody set him off.

Duck, turn. Quick distance attack.

This would be a good time to use Zero-Point. His version might be flawed, but it would work. And he wasn't really bothered about what it would do to his opponent. He just wanted them to _stop_.

It wouldn't take much ice anyway; just enough to inhibit Flame use for a few seconds.

Feign, twist, _contact_.

"What's this? The–"

Tsuna didn't _care_ right now. He had places to be.

The resulting explosion was fairly impressive, though. Looking through the clearing haze of vaporised metal and electronics, Tsuna paused. Was that the round machine over there, past the hole in the third wall?

* * *

Tsuna couldn't quite believe it, not even after landing on the ground underneath the gigantic white circular contraption that looked _exactly_ like his dream. He'd made it? He'd _found_ it?

How was it related to time travel though?

"That you would actually beat Genkishi was beyond my calculations, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna turned. Messy red hair, glasses, a White Spell uniform–

"Irie Shouichi." Tsuna didn't have it in him to feel angry or offended right now. All he had left was annoyance. Possibly frustration. Wait, were those people with him– "You're Cervello?!"

"First put down your fists, the talk comes after," Irie said confidently.

"Talk?" Tsuna asked cautiously. More exposition? Why was he acting so confident?

"If you pull any smart moves, they will die." A wall opened, revealing a tube with people inside. Familiar people, all unconscious. His friends! Wait, what were Kusakabe, Haru and I-Pin doing there?! And who was the blonde guy in the green outfit next to Viola-san?

"I trapped them with nanocomposite walls and put them to sleep with a sleeping gas," Irie said conversationally. "If you try something stupid I'll change it to poison gas."

Oh _great_, a trap boss. Tsuna had always _hated_ those ones. He was only going to get one chance at this too, since it wasn't like he could go back to a save point and try again.

Irie did something and suddenly everybody was waking up. And shouting.

"Your lives are in my hands," Irie said to them. "I want to talk, so behave, won't you? Resistance is futile; I've taken all your rings and Box Weapons."

Tsuna could tell Irie had no idea that Tsuna could recall most of those rings with a thought; best not to give that away just yet though.

"Don't mind us!" I-Pin said fiercely. "You must destroy the device!"

"Don't," Chrome said quickly.

"Honestly, I'm amazed at your ignorance," Irie said. "If you destroy this device, the ones inconvenienced will be you, you realise?"

"What." Tsuna just wanted the shitty exposition to be _over_ so he could go back to hitting things without worrying about consequences. Such as this fake adult version of _his cousin_, for instance.

"Inside this device are those who disappeared while being switched with you," Irie said as the core of the machine opened. "Your future selves."

Except _not_, because this _wasn't_ the future.

Irie didn't seem to notice that his dramatic reveal had fallen flat, continuing: "Although what we're seeing now is a holographic image; they're actually disassembled to a molecular state and preserved inside."

Well obviously that was fake science and only possible because nothing here was _actually real_.

"They were supposed to have gone to the past with the Bazooka's effect!" Kusakabe shouted.

"That's right," Irie agreed. "Normally, somebody shot with the ten-year bazooka should switch between their ten-years-later and their present day form–"

A _potential_ ten-years-later form; Tsuna had been paying attention when Older Lambo explained that bit.

"–however, this device managed to keep your future selves here before they were transferred to the past. If your selves from this time went to the past they would do unnecessary things and cause a disturbance to the tri-ni-sette policy."

Tsuna did not have a clue what that was, despite Gamma having mentioned something to do with tri-ni-sette earlier and Gingerbread saying those words in conjunction with radiation that had killed Colonnello.

Great, more plot. Probably important plot too, seeing as it had been mentioned and hinted at multiple times. The hints were getting a bit repetitive though; couldn't he get a _proper_ explanation?

"The one who shot the ten-year bazooka and sent us to this time," Reborn's hologram said abruptly from beside Tsuna's leg, "was that you?"

"Of course."

Tsuna didn't care how long it took him, he _would_ get out of here and then he was going to _strangle_ the real Shōichi!

"The me of ten years ago could use this time's technology, so I shot you with the ten-year bazooka. For example, by being exposed to anti-tri-ni-sette, we managed to restrict the Arcobaleno's movements."

"Why." Tsuna demanded flatly. He just had to get past the exposition, then he could shout about the _utter stupidity_ of all this. First though he had to find out how his cousin had confused this crazy fake Territory for the _actual_ _future_ and why he thought abducting people would work better than just _talking_ to them. "WHY WOULD YOU GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT TROUBLE TO GET US HERE?!"

"Irie-sama, any further," one of the Cervello murmured.

"No, I'll answer. It's a simple story: for Byakuran-san to be able to destroy the world in his hands and make a new world, he needed the Vongola Rings."

… this was over _administrative access?! _Tsuna ignored the story about the rings and pacifiers being involved in 'building the world;' even if it _was_ true, it probably referred to this fake place rather than the real world, so wasn't really relevant. He knew he wasn't very good at science but even _he_ knew that the Earth was far older than the Vongola Rings could _possibly_ be!

"The Arcobaleno who sacrificed themselves because they were ordered to protect the tri-ni-sette can't deny this story," Irie concluded.

"Do you know what he's talking about, Reborn?" If this was just a game thing that was one thing, but if this had some basis in reality, if only in terms of inspiration…

"We're done talking," Irie said, turning to the Cervello with him. "I'm leaving the rest to you."

"Yes sir. Sawada Tsunayoshi, hand over the Sky Ring. If you do not, we will poison your Guardians."

Tsuna hesitated. He _could_ hand it over and then summon it back, but even if he did, what guarantee did he have that they wouldn't poison his friends anyway?

"We're not done taking yet Irie," Reborn said confidently. "There's a part of this I can't agree on."

"We are not negotiating," one of the Cervello said, drawing a gun. "This is an order. If you don't obey within three seconds you will not escape destruction."

"Don't do it! They'll kill us anyway!" Viola-san said, bearing her teeth. Her hand was pressed against the curve behind her, fingers faintly red even under the bright lights; she was trying to escape? If she broke the tube, the gas would endanger the Cervello as well so they probably wouldn't use it–

"Two."

–what should he do he was _terrible_ at thinking fast under pressure–

"One."

Two gunshots rang out in quick succession; Tsuna blinked as both Cervello collapsed to the floor, revealing a smoking gun in Irie's hand.

"Irie-sama..?"

"Don't think badly of me," Irie said softly. "It'll just make you a little sleepy." He sighed. "Haa, it's hot; I'm all worn out. I thought I'd try it out just once…"

Tsuna stood still as stone as Irie stripped out of his Millefiore jumpsuit to reveal a t-shirt and pair of jeans underneath. Was this…

"I'm so nervous, my knees are shaking," Irie mumbled. "Sawada Tsunayoshi and members of the Vongola Family, you did well to get this far. I've been waiting for you; I'm your ally."

What.

"You're on _our_ side?" Viola-san demanded scornfully.

"Explain," Tsuna said, with what he felt was admirable calm. Evidently this was stage two of the plot and there were more stupid things they were going to have to do while waiting to be rescued. He could wait for the end of the exposition to shout. Being actually here meant he couldn't even button-mash his way through all the boring details!

"Normally everything I do is under twenty-four hour surveillance by my subordinates and the cameras which transmit directly to Byakuran-san. But thanks to you guys, everything's a mess," Irie explained. "Finally I can talk without alerting the Millefiore people. I've been waiting forever for this moment: being able to meet you in this base, under these conditions, was the goal we were planning for from the start."

Was Irie saying that the real Shōichi had been involved in _developing_ this demented death-game?!

"The fact that you were brought to this era because the Millefiore wanted the Vongola Rings is true," the redhead went on, clearly oblivious to Tsuna's temper nearing breaking point, "but ever since you guys arrived in this era, I've been pulling strings to get you here according to a secret plan we'd devised without the knowledge of the Millefiore, so you could undergo training and become stronger. A lot of bad things happened and I'm sorry about that," he added quickly, "but you had to be trained to increase your strength exponentially in the shortest possible time, so that you'd be ready for the battle to come. This was the only way!"

Yes, _this_ was the next step of the plot.

"You're the one who got us _into _this mess in the first place!" Tsuna shouted. "It's _your fault_ we're here! You and your _stupid_ plans and dragging us here when we _don't even have the Vongola Rings!_"

Irie opened his mouth then blinked, looking taken aback. "What? But, but you're the Vongola Tenth!"

"No, I am NOT!" Tsuna roared. "I am SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI and that is ENOUGH! I may be Vongola but I am **not** the Tenth Boss and I _never will be_!"

"But, but these rings–"

Tsuna summoned them all back to his hands. "These are my _personal_ rings_, family heirlooms_ that were made for Giotto _personally_, and have nothing to do with this tri-ni-sette system thing! There was an official scramble battle for the Vongola Rings last month, which the Cervello _actually judged_, and I LOST!"

"But, but," Irie looked stricken, "but that _didn't happen_!"

"Yes, it _did,_" Tsuna said furiously, advancing on the idiot who had dragged them into this mess, "because _this isn't our future_. Did you ever actually _talk_ to Lambo –or _any_ Bovino– about that _stupid_ bazooka?! It only shows you _potential_ futures! I spent _most of a year_ seeing _drastically_ _different_ versions of Lambo for random five-minute intervals!"

"But, but, but! It's really far more serious than you think! Besides, this entire plan was partly your counterpart's idea too, Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"I'm not surprised!" Tsuna yelled in the _idiot_'s face. "I've _never_ wanted to be a mafia boss, so of _course_ a version of me that _was_ one would do something stupid and self-destructive like this and get themselves _killed_ ruining the Vongola for everybody else!"

Irie flinched. There was a short pause.

"So, who _is_ Vongola Tenth?" he asked tentatively.

Tsuna took a step back. "Xanxus," he said shortly. He hadn't meant to say what he had about his Adult counterpart, but it was still the truth. No authentic version of him would ever _want_ to be a mafia boss. He _still_ didn't want to be one and this demented death-game was not exactly encouraging him to change his mind.

Irie blinked. "Xanxus of the Varia? Really? He… doesn't seem the type."

Clearly Irie knew _nothing_ about Xanxus at _all_. "Explain Byakuran," Tsuna demanded shortly.

"Yes, Byakuran!" Irie looked relieved. "He's your real enemy. You assault here was stage one of the plan; what comes next depends on stage two."

"Do we have to fight more now?"

Irie swallowed. "No? I want you all to be able to rest for a while, but that depends on stage two. You know, the international assault on the Millefiore by Vongola forces?"

Oh, that.

"If _that_ fails, everything is going to be a whole lot more difficult," Irie mumbled.

Tsuna didn't believe for a moment it would fail; Italy was where Xanxus and the Varia were. He did have a question though:

"Could you let my friends out of that tube while we wait to find out?"

"Oh! Yes! Sorry!"

* * *

"So you can't send us back?"

"No, sorry," and Irie did at least _sound_ sorry. "I can't do that until after all your adult self's Guardians have been replaced by their younger counterparts; that's just how the machine is set up. I don't know how much longer it will take for my younger self to send Sasagawa-san back, either." He paused. "Erm, shouldn't your Right Hand be here? I mean, I was pretty sure that Gokudera-san _had_ been sent back."

Tsuna _glared_ at him. "Gokudera," he said evenly, "was _hospitalised_ by Belphegor of the Varia during the Ring Battles. The doctors expect him to need another six months of physical therapy to fully recover his mobility. At _least_."

Irie quailed. "Oh. I, er, I didn't know. I'm sorry."

Saying sorry was all well and good, but it didn't exactly help Gokudera. Who had been _lying in a hospital bed_ when the real Irie shot him with the ten-year bazooka, despite it being blatantly obvious that he was in no shape to fight _anybody_. "Since this very obviously _isn't_ the future, can't we all go back to reality and deal with the Byakuran problem there?" That was the most obvious solution, if Byakuran was even a person who _existed_ in the real world. Tsuna wasn't convinced.

"But, who would believe us?"

"Xanxus?" Tsuna pointed out. "I mean, Byakuran's obviously a threat to the Vongola and Xanxus won't stand for that." Even if he wasn't sold on Byakuran existing, Xanxus would still check.

Irie sighed. "I get the impression the Xanxus you know and the one I do are _drastically_ different people."

Well yes. Clearly. That was one of the reasons this fake-future death-game thing was so _obviously_ a farce. The idea of Xanxus not caring at _all_ about the Vongola was just _ridiculous_ when he'd suffered through that humiliating Ring Battle to prove he was worthy of his own inheritance but managed to not take it out on Tsuna –well, not _much_ anyway– because despite Tsuna being his opponent, he was _still family_. That said it all in terms of how deeply Xanxus cared about the Vongola, really. Not just the Vongola as an organisation or ideal, but the Vongola as _people_.

Being honest with himself, Tsuna wasn't sure he could _ever_ care that much about people he didn't even _know_. His friends were one thing, but total strangers? Hundreds of them? He'd probably put his friends first, like the fake adult version of him had: Adult him had very clearly put _his_ friends –his Guardians– first by sending them away to make sure they didn't get caught up in the collapse of the Vongola.

Viola-san dropped a bento in his lap. "Here, eat something," she said briskly. Where had that come from? Had Chrome teleported it in or something? Glancing over his shoulder revealed that the rest of their party all had bento too, so either Chrome had helped or the mysterious person who cooked at the Vongola base had delivered the food here somehow. Or it might even be just another convenient game thing.

Tsuna obediently opened his meal and picked up the chopsticks; oh, the rice balls had been decorated with little strips of nori to look like Hibari-san's hedgehogs. Cute. "How are Takeshi and Onī-san?" They were the only ones to have been badly injured.

"Stabilised," Viola-san said shortly. "Provided I get them back to the infirmary for proper treatment within the next few hours, they should be fine."

So the infirmary had a special healing status effect? Or was it just that there were more healing things available there? Something for later. Just like asking for more Arcobaleno details was for later.

He should take notes, so he didn't forget to ask. Maybe Chrome could help him sort out something that wouldn't just evaporate when they left the Territory?

* * *

After eating, Tsuna realised he should probably talk to Haru and I-Pin about why they were here too. He should probably talk to Kusakabe-san as well, but Kusakabe was currently reporting to Hibari-san and Tsuna didn't want to interrupt.

"I-Pin?"

The martial artist looked up from the book she was reading; was that English? "Yes?"

Tsuna shifted awkwardly. "Why did you and Haru-chan come into the base?" Haru-chan was currently fussing over Adult Onī-san, who was still unconscious, so she hopefully wouldn't hear her own name and come over. Haru was… a bit much sometimes.

I-Pin hummed, patting the floor beside her. "Sit down, boss."

Tsuna sat.

"Do you know what time it is, boss?"

"No?"

"It's half-past nine; you left our base at five o'clock. Haru was worried, so Kusakabe and I agreed to accompany her into the upper levels of this base, just in case you needed a bit of help leaving."

They'd been down here more than four hours? Really? It didn't feel like that long. That explained why he was so hungry though; they'd barely had time for energy bars before leaving. "How did you get caught?"

"Haru's stealth is very good now –she's very good at the more subtle support-type Lightning tricks– so we got all the way down to the fifth floor past the guards on high alert in time to back up Viola and Spanner, who were facing Twelfth Squad and Gingerbread."

"Twefth Squad..." Tsuna tried to remember. There had been so _many_ Squads… Wait, hadn't Viola-san dismantled the Gingerbread guy already? No, she'd said Gingerbread was a doll so there could easily be more dolls as well as a proper puppeteer behind them.

"Iris Hepburn," I-Pin reminded him. "The dark-skinned Cloud with the big hair."

Oh yes, he remembered now.

"She got away, but the rest of the Squad didn't and neither did the Gingerbread doll," I-Pin said, smile small but fierce. "Unfortunately we got trapped trying to leave again and then gassed, and the rest you know already."

"Tsuna-kun!"

Tsuna squeaked; when had Haru got behind him?!

"Thank you for the Box Weapon, hahi! It's perfect! Hana-chan took the ring, since she doesn't have one and she wanted to be able to fight as well."

"I'm g-glad you like it," Tsuna managed, trying to get his heart to settle. The only other person who snuck up on him like that was Reborn, so his nerves were really on edge right now.

"We put all the other Boxes and rings in storage, since they didn't match our Flames and we weren't sure what they were," Haru continued, then lowered her voice to a whisper, "and we didn't tell Gokudera-kun about all the Storm ones, because Viola-san said he needs to rest more."

Tsuna smiled in relief. "Thanks, Haru-chan." She went a bit pink; had she not expected him to be grateful?

"Giannini just received news from Italy about the main battle," the Reborn hologram said clearly from across the room, prompting everybody to turn and look his way. "It seems that Xanxus has defeated all his opponents."

Well of course he had. Tsuna wasn't sure why Kusakabe-san and Irie were so surprised.

"Finally the news we've been waiting for," Irie said with a sigh. "I don't want to be a wet blanket, but it's too early to celebrate. Even if you've defeated their general, the strength of their army is far superior to yours. If the Millefiore appoint a new general and draw out the battle…" He trailed off.

"There's no need to worry about that," Reborn said after a pause. "The army is greatly reduced in numbers and retreating in disarray."

Kusakabe-san looked dumbfounded. Irie on the other hand looked ecstatic. "That means we've won, right?!" He demanded eagerly.

"Well, yes," Reborn agreed smugly.

"That means we can really do it!" Irie exclaimed, waving his arms enthusiastically. "The Vongola's fighting power is much higher than expected! They even managed to overcome the main force! We can do it! You just need –where did I– oh yes!" He ran over to the round machine, opened a panel and pressed a few buttons. "Tsunayoshi-kun, could you give out your rings again? To the people you want to have them, that is?"

Haru fluttered her eyelashes hopefully in his direction. Hibari-san turned and made firm eye-contact. Chrome glanced at him, her smile serene.

"O-okay." It wasn't like this was permanent. Tsuna went over to Takeshi first, slipping the Rain ring onto his finger, then gave the Lightning ring to Haru –who had followed him– the Mist ring to Chrome, then hesitated for a moment before giving the Sun ring to I-Pin. "If that's okay?"

I-Pin smiled. "I don't mind, boss; it's not forever after all."

Tsuna sighed in relief; good. Feeling better about things, he offered the Cloud ring to Hibari-san –who accepted 'until we leave this place, small animal'– and shyly approached Viola-san with the Storm ring. "Please? I just, I _can't_ give it to Gokudera and you're really competent and–"

Viola-san grinned, the fierce expression enhancing her resemblance to Xanxus quite alarmingly, and accepted the ring. "I'm flattered Tsuna; just make sure to take it with you when you leave, hm?"

Tsuna nodded, incredibly grateful that she wasn't taking it as a declaration of undying love or anything like that –yes she was only a few years older than him but she was _scary_– and turned back to Irie, slipping his own ring on at the same time. "Ready," he said firmly.

"Good." Irie pressed a button. "Then accept with your heart the powers granted by the Guardians of this era!"

The middle of the machine opened and seven coloured comets flew out; obviously this was some kind of upgrade, so Tsuna tried to focus on his intent to keep everybody safe and defeat Byakuran. The orange comet stopped over Tsuna's hand and coalesced into a Box Weapon. It felt… different to any of the ones he'd held before. Looking around, he saw that everybody else he'd lent the rings to had a new Box as well, all of them more elaborate-looking than the usual ones.

"There, now we really _will_ win!" Irie exclaimed.

"Oh no," said another voice, cheerful and echoing slightly around them, "this is merely a little break. Both the main battle in Italy and the Melone base in Japan have been most entertaining." A hologram of a white-haired man in a White Spell uniform popped up over the fallen Cervello. "The pre-game battle served a very important purpose, you know; you've shown me the true abilities of the Vongola's most powerful Squad, you know? And Shō-chan's desperate act of trying to lie to me."

"T-then, y-you mean," Irie stuttered.

"Yup," the hologram –it had to be Byakuran– chirped. "Busted! I have to say, you did manage to carry out your plans very _well_, Shō-chan. I didn't expect you to join forces with the Vongola quite like this, but I knew you would become my enemy sooner or later. Because, Shō-chan, you have _always_ looked at my plans with disapproval. Right from a long way back."

"What you're doing is _wrong_!" Irie insisted. Tsuna frowned. This world was _fake_; he _knew_ it was fake, even. Irie knew it was fake too, he was just pretending to himself that it wasn't, because he'd put so much effort into his plans that the idea of them being pointless and a waste of time _hurt_. But if Byakuran knew this world was fake too, and like Irie his real self was somehow aware of it despite not actually being _in_ it…

Well, Tsuna had done stuff in games he would never do in real life, just to see if doing it would create a better outcome in the game. He'd never had to work at finding the bad endings –those he always stumbled into regardless– but somebody who was better at games than him might do it on purpose, just to see what happened. It wasn't like any real people were getting hurt, after all.

"See?" Byakuran said, smiling. "Well, whatever makes you happy. You'll soon see who's right and who's wrong. But Shō-chan, you really like living on the edge, don't you? Sawada-kun isn't even the Vongola Tenth and yet, you've still thrown in your lot with him."

Byakuran had been _listening_ right from the start!

"To tell you the truth, it would be all too easy for me to continue the battle and crush the Vongola completely" –lie; Tsuna wasn't sure how he knew that but that _was_ a lie– "But I've been having so much _fun_ so far that I'm not going to. Besides, being betrayed by my 'most trusted aide'–" The finger-quotes were a bit much really "–has to have _some_ effect on my pride as a leader, doesn't it? That's why I think it's about time we had a proper match."

Irie looked very uncomfortable.

"An official trial of strength between the Vongola Family under Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun's command and my Millefiore Family," Byakuran went on. "Of course you don't have the Vongola Rings to stake on your victory, like I'll be staking the rest of the tri-ni-sette, so I'll just take that clever machine of Shō-chan's. That way you can't go home unless you win!"

"That's unfair!" Tsuna protested. "We're not staying here and the Arcobaleno are all dead, so we can't give the pacifiers back, and the Giglio Nero are part of the Millefiore _anyway_ so the other rings are rightfully theirs!" He couldn't remember the fancy name right now but it had been in Irie's monologue earlier. "We fight and _regardless of outcome_ the survivors get to go home, and only the pacifiers go to the victor." Although it wasn't exactly like Tsuna could _keep_ them when he went home...

Byakuran's smile widened. "That is truly _admirably_ fair, Tsunayoshi-kun; I agree to your terms."

"Byakuran-san! Please reconsider!" Irie burst out. "Do you really think it'll be that easy?"

"Oh? Why so excited, Shō-chan?"

"You sent all six of the Funeral Wreaths into battle, one in Italy and the other five here in Namimori, and all six of them were defeated. Of the seven Mare Rings, you have lost those six." Wait, so the winged rings like the one Irie was wearing and Gamma and Bearbunker had were the Mare Rings? "Now you are like a bird that has lost his wings," Irie concluded confidently.

"Yup," Byakuran chirped. "Well, if those had been the real things." The wings promptly broke off Irie's ring; that was so cliché! Totally convenient and a really videogame thing to happen!

"They're fakes!"

"Of course," Byakuran agreed. "High quality, just like Tsunayoshi-kun's rings, and beautiful A-rank stones too, but the real tri-ni-sette are a lot more special than that. Sorry Shō-chan; I've actually assembled another group in secret. I thought that if you met them in person the excitement would be too much for you, but there's really no need for me to hide them any longer; let me introduce you to them. They are the true Millefiore Family's Six Guardians, the real six Funeral Wreaths." The hologram changed to include a screen featuring six photographs, or possibly stills from videos.

"So who are they?" Tsuna asked; surprise high-level bosses were pretty much par the course in a videogame after a plot twist. Irie seemed distressed though.

"I don't know!" He shouted. "There are actually people I don't know in the Millefiore?!"

"That's because it would be troublesome if I put too much pressure on Shō-chan," Byakuran said easily. "My thought was this: just choosing someone who is strong is useless, because the key to the rings' power is a stronger 'will' or resolution. Because of that, I did not simply search within the Underworld; I looked all over the world for strong people with a Will that surpassed that of normal people. As well, of course, for those who were willing to turn that Will into loyalty towards me. The world was thankfully large enough for me to find them. This guy for instance."

The image of the stern-looking guy with red hair expanded to take up the entire screen, then was replaced by a pristine tropical paradise with a mountain covered in jungle.

"As you can see, his home town is full of people who love the beauty of nature," Byakuran went on, "so when I asked him to show me the strength of his Will?" Behind Byakuran, the mountain erupted, spewing lava in all directions and covering all the trees in molten rock.

Tsuna stared, ignoring the exclamations coming from reborn and Kusakabe. There was no Flame that he knew of that could do _this_. Flames were _in people_, not in the landscape!

"He gave up his home town for me," Byakuran said simply, still smiling. "It didn't happen very long ago; I didn't think that him just proving his loyalty to me would destroy the villagers that brought him up."

He didn't say 'parents'. He didn't say 'family.' Tsuna found that significant. Everybody in school had been horrible to him until very recently or just ignored him outright, so if this guy hadn't had any family at all and just people who told him that he was useless and a burden then… well. Xanxus had said he was a bastard and implied that the reason Tsuna's father had refused to just let him inherit the Vongola without a Ring Battle was _because_ he was Vongola Ninth's bastard, and Xanxus had been really _very_ angry about that, which was perfectly fair. It wasn't like it was Xanxus's fault he'd been born.

"What's that in the lava?" I-Pin asked. The screen helpfully zoomed in, revealing the red-haired guy sitting in the lava like it was a hot spring. Okay, that was _too_ much; they were leaving plausibility behind and heading into the ridiculous here!

"Is he even human?!" Kusakabe-san demanded.

Byakuran chuckled. "Now you understand the unique powers of the six Funeral Wreaths. They also have three thousand subordinates each, including a further forty A-rank soldiers under their command."

"Forty!" Irie exclaimed. "Before this the only A-rank Millefiore were the six Funeral Wreaths!"

Another forty people on Gamma's level? no wait, _six times_ forty? That was scary!

"Well I had to make it more interesting!" Byakuran chirped. Something about his words fell slightly flat though… Tsuna tried to focus. What was it about the cheery façade that sounded fake?

"Byakuran-san!" Irie said firmly. "The match you were talking about; what are you planning?"

"Before I was always playing with Shō-chan," Byakuran said fondly. "Do you still remember the game called 'choice'?"

Irie flinched.

"I am planning to make it real," Byakuran continued. "Details to be confirmed in ten days time. I won't move until that is over, so rest easy. Oh, but I am still going to take that amusing time-travel machine, Tsunayoshi-kun; I don't want you logging out before we can play together!"

"How do you plan on stealing the machine?" Reborn asked.

"The whole base you are standing in is going to disappear," Byakuran said cheerfully. "More precisely, because the super ring transmission system is up and running, so the teleport system using Ring Flames–"

"It's completed?!" Spanner interrupted, looking shocked despite the lollipop sticking out of his mouth.

"Nope, it only works with objects with a Flame-rich frame," Byakuran replied. "Because it needs so much time and power, you may only see it in action once in your entire lifetime. See you in ten days' time!" The hologram winked out and everything around them instantly started vibrating.

"What do we do?"

"Is there a fire exit or something?!" Tsuna demanded, turning to Irie.

"Yes, behind the machine–"

Everybody ran, Kusakabe-san and I-Pin carrying the unconscious Takeshi and Adult Onī-san. The exit door led into a tunnel cut into the rock; Hibari-san in the rear was only just through the door when there was a massive flash of light. When the spots cleared from their eyes the entire wall had vanished along with the door, revealing a really deep hole they were quite near the bottom of.

"The base is gone!"

"To think that the entire base could just teleport like that!"

"Where is this extreme place?"

Tsuna spun around; Onī-san? The _real_ Onī-san? Now?!

"Sawada!" Onī-san hugged him, but carefully; Tsuna guessed his ribs were still broken. He still had the cast on his arm and braces on both hands, too. "You're all right! I was so worried! Your grandma and cousins have been looking everywhere for you!" He paused. "Is Kyoko here as well?"

"Well not here-here," Tsuna admitted, "but she's safe and back at our base with Hana-chan and Gokudera."

"Ah, so Octopus Head has been extremely looking after my sister! I am so grateful!"

"The situation really isn't good though," Kusakabe-san pointed out.

"Can we get back to the base before talking about strategy?" Tsuna asked. He kind of wanted a shower, plus it felt safer than sitting here in a tiny tunnel on the edge of a deep hole that was probably going to collapse now there wasn't anything in it to hold up the sides.

"VOOOI! You little shits! Are you still alive?!" Tsuna flinched at the bellowing in his headphones. Wha?!

"It's a transmission from the Varia," Giannini said at a much less painful volume, "but I'm afraid the Millefiore might be bugging it."

"It's fine! Just let me through, damn it!" Squalo snapped.

"He's scary, just connect him to everyone," Tsuna mumbled to the weapons' tuner. "But take the volume down a bit, please?" Squalo was _loud_.

"Hi Squalo!" Takeshi wheezed, sitting up slightly from where I-Pin had leaned him against the wall. He was okay!

"Listen up!" Squalo said sharply. "At this time, as Vongola, are all together in this! So you little brats–" He was cut off by a muffled crunch. "You asshole!" Was that directed at–

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," came Xanxus's deep, controlled tones over the headphones, interrupting his thoughts. "Have you become a little less immature yet? Show me that in ten days' time, the Vongola will be the strongest!" The line crackled and went dead.

"Well it seems he's on our side this time," Reborn said pragmatically.

"More that we're on his side," Tsuna corrected absently. Xanxus was Vongola Tenth after all and as a Sky, Tsuna was part of the Vongola, so they were family and family supported each-other.

Well, if this was Millefiore against Vongola, did that mean Xanxus and the Varia would actually _be_ there for the eventual contest? If so, that would be comforting. The Varia were really strong, after all.

* * *

He _knew_. Tsunayoshi-kun _knew_ this whole world –that _all_ the worlds he'd conquered– wasn't truly real. He knew it and he said it like it was _obvious_, like _everybody_ should have noticed that the people here were flat and boring and predictable and that nothing _interesting_ ever happened unless he _made_ it happen.

Tsunayoshi-kun who wasn't even the Vongola Tenth, despite being such in almost _every single_ alternate universe Byakuran had seen so far. Tsunayoshi-kun who said that Xanxus of the Varia, who'd only started popping up recently and never done anything actually _interesting_, was the Vongola Tenth. Xanxus of the Varia, who was only interested in his subordinates, his wife and their ever-growing brood of children; Byakuran had never _needed_ to do anything to keep the man out of the Millefiore, because Xanxus didn't _care_. Byakuran had destroyed the Vongola at _least_ twenty times now and _every single time_ Xanxus –and the Varia– slipped through his fingers, vanishing completely and never bothering to oppose his rule. Except that Tsunayoshi-kun seemed to be saying that the drearily sameish behaviour Byakuran had seen in all those previous universes was _significantly_ out of character for the man.

Well, wasn't that _interesting_. After he'd had his little spar with Tsunayoshi-kun and sent all the children home, he'd have to investigate Xanxus more closely. See what it took to make the man fight back. Targeting his wife, maybe? Or possibly one of his children? On the subject of children though, it didn't look like anybody had bothered to tell little Tsunayoshi-kun that his adult self had a child. A motherless little boy he'd abandoned to the mercies of the Varia Boss _long_ before hatching this little revenge scheme with Shō-chan. Should he tell? Or was it more amusing to let it lie?

Hm, decisions, decisions. Either way, he was determined to have fun and not dwell on how severely Millefiore numbers had been cut down by zombies during the Vongola attack. It seemed to have been more opportunistic than not –the zombies noticing the distraction and disorder caused by the attacks and deciding it was a good moment to complete their objectives– but it was still very damaging. Worst of all was that he still had _no idea_ who was doing it or how. This hadn't happened in _any_ of the other alternate worlds!

What was so different about _this_ one?!


	3. Act 3

It's the final act! The next chapter of Black Sky –chapter 322– follows on directly from the end of this side-story.

* * *

**Yesterday's Tomorrow **

Once they were all back at the Vongola Base –Irie and Spanner included– Viola-san insisted on everybody taking their turn in the infirmary, starting with Hibari-san. Tsuna had no idea how she'd enforced _that_, but she'd made it happen somehow and by lunchtime the only people still in her care were Onī-san and Gokudera. Onī-san so she could fix up his broken bones –more proof this was a videogame, although Irie had looked a bit confused as well so maybe it was a special Vongola-specific skill– and Gokudera because despite staying behind in the base, he'd damaged himself stressing over their absence by training too much while trying to avoid stressing, so he was on bed rest for the next twenty-four hours.

Viola-san's threat to remove all the bones from his legs so he _couldn't_ do this again had Gokudera promising hastily to obey medical advice from her in the future. She'd snorted at him, then dosed him up with at least four different things and left him in the infirmary to sleep them off. I-Pin had already agreed to give Onī-san the Vongola Box Weapon and had asked Tsuna if it was okay to give him the ring later as well, seeing as it was probably going to be something that suited his fighting style more than hers. Seeing as Tsuna knew already that Adult Onī-san's Box Weapon was a boxing kangaroo, he'd agreed. However he'd given the Box to Viola-san, so she could decide when Onī-san was well enough to train again.

I-Pin had instead taken Gingerbread's spider Box Weapon, the look on her face one of a person determined to find out _everything_ she could about what it could be made to do.

After a lunch where everybody who'd been on the raid –except Hibari-san– reassured the people who hadn't that they were okay and explained what was going to happen next, Tsuna caught Haru, Chrome and Takeshi and drew them aside for a chat in one of the storage rooms.

"Onī-san said it was Friday the eighth of November," he said once they were all sitting down on the empty boxes. "So we've only been missing for three days, even though we've been here a month. Onī-san also said that a Varia person asked him questions yesterday –that's the people who work for the real Vongola Decimo, Haru-chan– so I don't think we're going to have to wait much longer to be rescued."

"Even if it only takes another day in real life, that still takes us up to Byakuran's game in here, doesn't it boss?" Chrome asked.

Tsuna shuffled on his crate. "Yes, it does," he agreed, "but Byakuran's promised to send us back regardless of the game's outcome, so all we have to do there is not take silly risks."

"And try to win, hahi!"

"And try to win," Tsuna agreed. "He might decide it's not a proper game if we don't try our best." He took a deep breath. "That's why I thought we should try opening our new Box Weapons now, since even though we all fought, none of us are too tired to call on our Flames."

"Yeah, we fought smart, didn't we Chrome-chan?" Haru said, pumping her fist. "Not like Takeshi-kun!"

Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I wasn't very smart," he admitted frankly. "I mean, I didn't exhaust myself and I noticed two of the layers of illusions Genkishi was using and managed to counter them, but the third layer I missed entirely. Without Chrome schooling me last week I'd probably have missed all three though; thanks Chrome."

Chrome went pink. "You need to question things more," she muttered. "You just accept what you see as real; be more critical!"

"I'll try," Takeshi promised brightly. "You'll help me, won't you?"

Chrome nodded firmly. "I will work you as hard as Mukuro-sama would."

"So do we just open the Boxes here?" Haru asked after a pause, eyeing hers dubiously. "My boar was kind of big…"

"We should probably do that in a training room," Tsuna agreed. "Haru-chan, since you have the fancy Vongola weapon, would you mind letting Hana-chan have your boar? So she can protect Kyoko-chan? Genkishi escaped at the last moment so I couldn't loot him for Box Weapons or a spare ring, and the only other Mist Box Weapon we have is Chrome-chan's owl." Kyoko-chan wasn't very strong but a Mist Box Weapon would have given her an edge she could use to escape with, since she didn't want to fight.

"Already done, Tsuna-kun!" Haru said cheerfully, wagging a finger at him. "Did you really think I wouldn't think of that already, hahi? Haru-chan worries about Kyoko-chan too, you know! We're friends!"

Tsuna smiled; yes, Haru _was_ Kyoko-chan's friend and he should have remembered. "Thank you!"

Haru went pink again; oh, he'd embarrassed her, he should move on! "Chrome, have you heard from Adult Mukuro recently?"

"No, boss," Chrome admitted, "but Irie told me on the way back that even though Byakuran claimed to have killed him, the Vindice's prison didn't report the death of any of their inmates, so he's definitely alive!"

"That's great news! I'm so pleased!" Tsuna really was; Mukuro was a really sneaky ally and they needed all the help they could get.

"Let's go try out our Box Weapons so he doesn't laugh at our incompetence when he shows up!" Takeshi said cheerfully, getting to his feet.

* * *

That evening, Tsuna sat on his bed, feet swinging over the edge. It wasn't that he _didn't_ like his Box Weapon, it was strong and very useful, it was just…

After the Ring Battles, Lancia-san had mentioned that Tsuna's father was known as 'the Young Lion of the Vongola'. Knowing that and having his Box Weapon be an actual miniature lion –_real_ ones were bigger– left a bad taste in his mouth. It added to the list of things about his Adult self he'd been ignoring, things that kind of implied his Adult self had acted a lot like his father. Like not telling the people who cared about him what he was doing and assuming it wouldn't matter if things got broken, so long as he got what he wanted in the end. Like dumping all these responsibilities on younger him without asking first and not even providing a set of instructions.

Like abandoning his family on the other side of the planet and lying to them about what he was really doing when he was conspiring with Irie. Looking back, it was weird that not _one_ of the Adult versions of his Guardians had been willing to talk about what life had been like in Italy. Which yes, could be due to everything being destroyed now and a lot of those people being dead, but also kind of suggested they hadn't cared much about those people.

Tsuna wasn't his father; he didn't _want_ to be like his father. But this _horrible_ game had given him a little lion as a Box Weapon and had the Adult him abandon his family and he was just going to have to deal with it. What made it worse was that Natsu was really, really cowardly when not actually fighting. Tsuna might be scared most of the time, but he was trying not to let it stop him! He wasn't letting people walk all over him anymore! He was standing up for himself now! But the game had given him a Box Weapon that wouldn't even do _that_. It wasn't fair!

When he got out he was going to talk to Grandma and see if he could write Xanxus a letter or something. Xanxus knew his father better than he did, so maybe he'd know the kinds of things Tsuna had to watch out for so he could _not_ do them.

Haru's bull had also made it clear that the game had expected the Lightning Guardian to be Lambo –the cow theme was obvious– but Tsuna was very happy that the five-year-old was sitting this whole mess out. Viola-san kept him entertained and busy and he was very obviously _happy_, so he was barely remembering to ask them what they were doing most of the time. It was one less thing to worry about and Tsuna was really grateful.

* * *

"Motorbikes?!" What did motorbikes have to do with fighting Byakuran?! Tsuna tuned out Giannini's babbling about model and fuel. He couldn't ride a motorbike! He'd fall off! He didn't have a license!

"Listen up! You need to learn how to ride these and use your Box Weapons before the fight with Byakuran," Reborn said from his perch on the back of the bike.

"How is a motorbike related to fighting Byakuran?" Tsuna asked unhappily.

"According to Shōichi, the battlefield for the 'choice' will be ten kilometres across," Reborn told them. "A motorbike will be useful."

"So wide!" Takeshi exclaimed with a grin.

"If I think of it as a boxing ring, it's extremely big!" Onī-san said, pumping his fist.

"But surely Tsuna-kun can already move around quickly by flying with his gloves?" Haru pointed out.

Giannini tsked. "Those gloves are detectable by radar when he uses them, Miura-chan," he explained. "We need to be undetectable on the battlefield."

"But we're still just kids! What if we're caught by the police driving those?" Tsuna asked, very reasonably. He'd seen police officers around the fake Namimori and getting arrested could easily be a possible hazard in this game to ensure the criminals stayed discreet.

"If it were ten years ago, maybe," Reborn conceded, "but your adult selves already have licenses." He held them out. There was even one for Haru!

Well, the licences were as fake as the scenario, but it was likely that in-game, just having a licence would be enough to ensure the police didn't try to stop you. Unless you were driving recklessly and breaking the law, of course.

"Please practice in the largest training room, I've built a simple driving course in there," Giannini added.

Tsuna sagged. It had taken him _forever_ to learn to ride a bicycle and he still wasn't good at it; he didn't play racing games either. Well, if he _had_ to learn, he was going to ask for help first. Ask somebody _not_ Reborn.

Maybe he could try and reach Kusakabe-san? He seemed the type to know how to drive a motorbike…

* * *

The day after the first motorbike practice –Viola-san had emerged from the infirmary and got him started, then ordered him to 'experiment' which had led to several near-accidents but been surprisingly helpful– Viola-san lined them all up in the main training room and announced they'd be starting Box Weapon practice now.

"Everybody who can use Flames, not just the people with Tsuna's rings," she said firmly, side-eyeing Irie who was standing by the wall next to Spanner and very clearly wanted to be anywhere _but_ here. "Shōichi's made it clear that the rules for this 'choice' are very fluid so any one of us could be called to the field. Mini-Kyōya's already training, so don't worry about him."

Viola-san was calling Hibari 'mini-Kyōya'? Probably to his face as well? Tsuna made an effort not to squeak nervously. Viola-san was _super_ scary to get away with _that_!

"Gokudera will be getting basic sniper training from Lal, which will be outside since the Millefiore base no longer being here means the local levels of anti-Tri-ni-sette radiation have dropped to almost nothing."

Gokudera hobbled after Mirch-san as quickly as he could, face set in determined lines.

"Takeshi, Chrome's agreed to set you a series of trap courses to work on your observation skills with; the first one's down the hall on the right. Physical training can wait until you're less easy to fool."

Takeshi chuckled sheepishly and headed out; going by Chrome's subtle smile, their friend was going to find it _very_ challenging.

"Chrome, I-Pin has agreed to help you improve your hand-to-hand and staff skills. Haru, Hana; Bianchi will help both of you with your combat skills and your Box Weapons. Kyoko, you may join Chrome or the other two if you wish, but please stick with whichever one you pick."

All four girls nodded seriously and headed out with their respective tutors.

"Ryōhei, Tetsuya has agreed to get you started with your Box Weapon."

"I will work extremely hard to catch up, pompadour-san!" Onī-san said boisterously, flexing his freshly healed arms with a grin.

"Tsuna, I do not get the impression you need any help with your Box Weapon."

Tsuna felt himself go red. "Ah, m-maybe not," he admitted, "b-but practice can't hurt, right?"

She smiled; Tsuna shivered; he had a feeling he'd just doomed himself.

"Practice never hurts," she agreed sweetly. "That's why you and Lambo will be fighting _me._"

"Yes! Lambo-sama gets to show Tsuna-san how awesome he is!"

Tsuna blinked; when had Lambo stopped calling him 'Dame-Tsuna'?

Viola-san's smile flattened; she evidently realised why he was surprised. "No minion of mine will be rude to his family," she said matter-of-factly. "Now prepare yourselves, both of you!"

"Lambo, if you stay close to me I can shield you from Flame attacks," Tsuna said quickly to the scarred five-year-old bouncing eagerly next to him. "That way you won't get hit."

Lambo nodded. "Lambo-sama will hide behind Tsuna when Viola-nee is doing big scary attacks," he agreed cheerfully. "So Lambo-sama can attack Viola-nee back more quickly!"

Tsuna did his best to smile; they were going to lose, definitely, since he'd never fought beside Lambo before and –rather embarrassingly– wasn't even sure of all of what the little boy had spent the past month learning. Still, it _would_ be good practice and help him get more familiar with his Box Weapon.

Plus, well, it _was_ a long time since he'd done _anything_ with Lambo. It was only Viola-san's kindness that had kept the five-year-old busy and not feeling neglected so he should repay her for that and make sure Lambo knew he did care really.

* * *

"Lambo, that was amazing!" Tsuna was maybe a bit dizzy from using so much Flames, but he meant it! Lambo was _really good_ at dodging now and he was really good at throwing things too, and at clinging onto Tsuna's back without strangling him or making it harder to run!

Lambo beamed up at him, the smile only slightly marred by all the now-fading scars criss-crossing his face. "Lambo-sama is the _greatest_!"

"You really are!" Tsuna bent down, picked him up and tossed him into the air, making the five-year-old squeal in glee. "I'm so impressed!" Lambo didn't have _any_ Flame training but he'd be really good at getting away from trouble now, even without the Bazooka.

The Bazooka which Tsuna was planning on giving to the Varia so that Xanxus could have it locked up or taken apart, whatever, he didn't care so long as it _never_ saw the light of day again. If the Varia didn't take it he was going to melt it down to slag and bury the remains.

"Not bad," Viola-san agreed as Tsuna caught Lambo and lowered him back to the ground. "Now Lambo, how about you join me and we both fight Tsuna?"

"Yaaay! Lambo-sama gets to fight Dame-Tsuna!"

Viola-san instantly radiated extreme displeasure. "_What_ have I said about calling Tsuna that, Lambo?"

The five-year-old shuffled. "It's mean."

"And?"

"I don't want to be a mean person."

"So?"

"I should apologise." Lambo looked up, eyes shiny. "I'm sorry, Tsuna-san."

"I forgive you," Tsuna said immediately. "It's okay Lambo, I know you didn't mean it hurtfully. You were just copying Reborn."

Lambo brightened slightly. "Viola-nee says Reborn is a _bad_ influence."

Tsuna's lips twitched; he bent down conspiratorially. "Reborn is a really _terrible_ influence," he agreed in a loud whisper. "Xanxus says so too. Don't tell him I said so though, okay?"

The five-year-old giggled behind his hands. "Lambo-sama promises."

"Good. Now, you were going to fight me, weren't you?" It would be good practice to help him control his output, after the last session where he'd made a point of attacking as hard as he possibly could without vaporising the walls. He didn't have much energy left, so he'd have to conserve as much of it as possible.

"Mwa ha ha ha har! Lambo-sama will be victorious! Again!" Although Tsuna _was_ a bit more worried about what Viola-san had in mind to attack him with _this_ time…

* * *

"So how did your training go?"

Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck, grinning. "Ah, well, I found what I _thought_ was the right room immediately," he admitted, "but it turns out I spent an hour staring into space in the hallway before Chrome lost patience with me and dispelled the illusion. I was more attentive after that; it only took me another four tries to find the door!" He chuckled. "She was really clever, mixing really obvious illusions like snakes with subtle ones like changing the room's dimensions or the lighting, so I had to double-check _everything_. I've got a lot of work to do!"

"That sounds really hard." Tsuna wasn't sure he'd be able to do that.

"It's not," Hana-chan said bluntly from across the table. "I had Chrome teach me to deal with illusions last week; this idiot monkey just can't be bothered to _look_ properly."

Takeshi laughed again, but Tsuna had a feeling there was more to the problem than his friend was saying.

"_Why_ aren't you looking closely at what's around you, Takeshi?"

His friend stopped laughing, eyes dropping to his meal.

"You don't have to say if you don't want to," Tsuna added hastily.

"Aah, well," Takeshi mused softly, the words barely audible, "I can be kind of… intense, you know? The baseball team never liked it, so I tried to stop so I wasn't making them uncomfortable."

"You're my _friend_," Tsuna said quietly, frowning; it didn't sound like the baseball team were really Takeshi's friends at _all_. "You shouldn't change yourself; I want you to be _you_. It's especially not good if you not being yourself means you might get hurt."

Takeshi smiled, the small expression miles more sincere than his usual squinty grins. "You're a really good friend, Tsuna."

"Hie?" He was? But, but he was really new to friending! He barely knew how to friend at all! He was making it up as he went along!

"Boss is an _excellent_ friend," Chrome agreed firmly.

Tsuna felt his face heat and quickly shovelled more curry into his mouth to disguise his embarrassment.

* * *

The next morning Tsuna headed to the surveillance room to check up on Gokudera, who hadn't been there for breakfast. Viola-san hadn't seemed worried –she'd said he was taking a day off training so as not to strain himself– but Tsuna still wanted to make sure his friend was okay. Gokudera had seemed rather down about things yesterday evening, which suggested his training with Mirch-san hadn't gone very well.

"I'm trying really hard, I promise Tenth! It's just Mirch-san is really impatient! She doesn't understand that I _can't_ crawl like she wants me to with my knees and hands all messed up still and I'm not used to the rifle recoil! She never explains anything!"

In other words, Gokudera was struggling just as much with Mirch-san's training as Tsuna had back during his first week here. "Mirch-san is very strict," Tsuna agreed, "and very demanding. I think Reborn said once that she used to be a CONSUBIN instructor?" Whatever that was; something military, apparently.

Gokudera seemed to know, as his annoyance slipped slightly and his eyes widened. "I'll be more attentive tomorrow Tenth, I promise! I won't waste this opportunity!"

Tsuna opened his mouth to say that if Gokudera _really_ didn't want to learn from Mirch-san he didn't have to, but at that moment the screen in front of Giannini sang an unfamiliar note.

"_Laa!_"

"What's that?"

The main screen lit up, dozens of three-dimensional pac-man images flying into view, all singing various pure notes.

"_Laa!_"

"_Laa!_"

"I don't know what it is!" Giannini said desperately, frantically hitting keys. "Somebody is interfering with the network!" Irie and Spanner were also bent over their keyboards, but to little effect.

"_Laa!_"

Viola-san stuck her head around the door then walked inside, Takeshi and Chrome hovering behind her. "What's going on?"

"_Byakuran!_" A chibi-Byakuran appeared on the screen, wearing a clown costume and standing on a white orchid flower, to the sound of familiar laughter. Then the screen changed to reveal the real Byakuran eating an _enormous_ ice cream sundae.

"How are things? Are you having fun?" He asked.

"Byakuran!" Tsuna blurted out. How had he found them?!

"It's too boring over here so I came to play! Do you want some?" Byakuran asked cheerily, gesturing at his ice cream mountain.

"Bastard! Messing us around!" Gokudera bristled.

"Just kidding!" The Millefiore Boss went on. "I'm actually here for some business connected to the 'Choice'. See, we settled on a time but not on a place, didn't we? So in six days time, gather at the Nami shrine at noon."

"We're going to fight in Namimori?!" Hibari-san would _murder_ them!

"Hm, you think? Anyway, prepare what you need and bring everybody there. At least, bring everybody from the past over."

"Everyone?" Takeshi asked.

"Including Kyoko-chan and Lambo?" Tsuna muttered nervously.

"What?!" Oh dear, Onī-san had shown up too and heard him!

"If you're not all there you will be disqualified and it won't count as a game, so I don't have to send you all home," Byakuran said cheerfully, eyes narrowed and uncomfortably serious after all that fooling about. "Work harder on your training." The screen went blank.

"But, but Kyoko-chan doesn't _want_ to fight!" Tsuna protested. "She shouldn't be forced to!"

"Nobody will be forcing Kyoko to fight!" Onī-san shouted, punching a crater in the wall next to him.

"Calm down sempai," Takeshi said breezily, wrapping an arm across Onī-san's shoulders. "Speaking of, how did Byakuran invade the network?"

"It's a flaw in the defence system, you amateurs!"

Tsuna spun at that shockingly familiar but totally unexpected voice. Standing in the doorway behind them –_inside_ their base– was Squalo, hair even longer than last time, wearing a black and cream uniform with a fur collar and holding up a tuna almost as big as he was by the tail.

"Squalo!" Takeshi said delightedly, letting go of Onī-san. The Varia Officer however turned to Viola-san, offering her the fish.

"Here, princess; enjoy."

"Good to see you too," Viola-san said warmly, leaning over and hugging the Rain Officer before accepting the fish. Squalo just stood there and _let_ her, which was really odd. And why was he calling her 'princess'? "I've not let him do anything sword-related yet, so you've got free reign."

Takeshi's grin widened. "Wait, you mean Squalo's going to be–"

The Rain Officer turned in an instant and punched Takeshi in the face, then kneed him in the gut. A tooth went flying. Hopefully Viola-san could fix that? Hey wait–

"Takeshi!"

Squalo hefted the unconscious Takeshi easily over one shoulder, then turned to eye Tsuna. "I will be back for _you_ later," he said ominously, pointing his sword at Tsuna's throat. "We're going to have a little _chat_."

Tsuna swallowed hard, but nodded. He wasn't Vongola Tenth, Xanxus was, and Squalo was Xanxus's Right Hand which meant that in Xanxus's absence Squalo was the person to talk to about Vongola things. He should have expected this; The Varia had clearly overheard Byakuran talking about how he _wasn't_ Tenth and Squalo had been sent to investigate.

Squalo seemed pleased by his cowed silence and lowered his sword, turned and walked out the door. "Voi, I'll be taking care of the trash!"

"Viola-san?" Tsuna asked quietly after Squalo was gone.

"Hm?" She looked up from the fish –and she had to be very strong to hold it as easily as Squalo had– and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Will Takeshi be okay?" That had been… violent.

"Squalo understands Takeshi better than most," Viola-san said. "They're not so different really."

That was not amazingly reassuring. Then again, neither had Squalo's promise of a 'chat' later been.

"I think a bit more training would take your mind off things, don't you think?" Viola-san suggested sweetly. "Just let me take this to the kitchen while you get ready; I won't be going so easy on you today."

She'd been going _easy_ on him yesterday?! "Hiee!"

* * *

After a very late lunch Tsuna staggered into his room for a change of clothes, then down the hall for a shower. Viola-san had worked him so hard his legs felt all noodly and his arms were still shaking! He'd had to ask for a spoon because he couldn't hold his chopsticks!

The hot water was a relief and so was being clean again; dropping his stinky training clothes in the laundry basket outside the bathroom door, Tsuna weaved his way back to his own room. He'd just stepped inside when the door was slammed firmly behind him, making him spin around as terror shot up his spine.

"Hieee!"

Squalo glared back at him from where he was standing silently against the wall, visibly unimpressed with Tsuna's squeaking and lack of observation skills.

"S-sorry," Tsuna mumbled, shuffling backwards to sit on his messy, unmade bed. At least there wasn't any underwear strewn across his floor today…

The Rain Officer snorted, slumping back into the wall behind him. "So, _not_ the Vongola Tenth," he drawled, voice unexpectedly soft. "Care to explain, trash?"

"Er," It was odd to _not_ be addressed as 'Squeaky Toy' by Squalo. "There was a Ring Battle? And erm, well, I lost?"

Squalo's eyebrow twitched; Tsuna hastily tried to assemble additional details. "I, erm, I didn't want to fight in a Ring Battle? If there was another candidate for Vongola Tenth, well, they could just have it, but, er, Reborn and Dad said I had to and handed out the half-rings to my friends, so um, I didn't know that I could just have said no and not participated until, well, afterwards? So well, my friends all ended up fighting, erm, the Varia Officers and I fought, well, Xanxus and now Lambo's all over scars and Gokudera's just as messed up, er, and we lost anyway so, well, what was the point? Well, Chrome got organs, um, that was good, but that was literally it? Oh and Xanxus explained some Vongola stuff after I lost, but, er, I think he'd have done that anyway."

"Your Chrome has proper organ replacements?" Squalo asked, face having settled into something resembling neutrality while Tsuna was rambling nervously.

"Um, yes? Xanxus arranged them with Doctor Consul, er, because she's standing in for Mukuro and he said, um, said she needed to be in good shape as my Guardian. He's also sorting out for me to go and, er, live with Grandma and explained how Lambo's family, um, er, gave up custody? Of him, to me, erm, so I have to take him too."

"Your Grandma's Alliata."

"Er, yes? Um, Carla Alliata? Hana-chan said there were, um, Alliata in Namimori back in my time, er, investigating my being missing and well, um, Onī –I mean Sasagawa Ryōhei– said, erm, that there was a Varia asking people questions as well before he got sent here, so I don't think, er, we're going to be here much longer, um. No matter _what_ Byakuran thinks."

"You've been here for what, a month and a half now?"

"Three and a bit days," Tsuna said more firmly. "The timing is all off because Irie fiddled with the Bazooka somehow. Also this very obviously _isn't_ my future, since I'm obviously _not_ the Tenth, so it has to be a Territory."

Squalo did not refute that, interestingly. "Explain, trash."

Tsuna took a breath. "After the Ring Battles you all stuck around for a few more days, and the Mist Officer –er, Maínomai– explained a bit about the Cervello's security and how they were using Territories but said they were doing it all wrong, because they could have set it up to not damage the school at all. Then after you all left Mukuro and Reborn explained more about Territories to me and Chrome and Takeshi, um, er, about how they're like a physical version of trapping somebody in your mindscape and they're really hard to get out of from the inside? Since this _can't_ be the future, I think it's a Territory? Whoever dragged us all in here probably wanted to steal the Vongola Rings and thought we had them, but it's still only October here despite us being inside for over a month and it was November back home, erm, so I think they set this up before the Ring Battles happened, so they didn't know they happened or that I lost. So now we're trapped and we can't get ourselves out, um, so, er, I'm hoping the people back home can get us out somehow." And as soon as possible; he wanted to get out of here, away from this horrible fake future where everybody seemed to want to make him responsible for everything.

"You don't think Byakuran did it," Squalo noted.

"I, er, don't see why he'd care?" To Tsuna, Byakuran seemed kind of bored. Like he'd been playing this game for months and was only sticking with it because he'd not worked out how to win all the bonuses yet. "I mean, um, he's just, well, messing around, um, really, isn't he? Irie says he's, er, done this in dozens of other parallel universes –similar Territories maybe? I don't know– so that doesn't sound like he's in control any more than we are. Irie _thinks_ he's in control since he brought us here but he didn't even notice all the Varia in town last month despite, well, _definitely_ spying on us in order to steal the bazooka and set this up, so I, um, don't think he is either."

Squalo grunted, the vein in his forehead twitching in irritation. "You don't think I'm real; that Boss is real."

"I know you're definitely based on the Squalo-san I met who fought Takeshi in the Ring Battles," Tsuna said tentatively, "but the Xanxus I met would _never_ have let me mess up the Vongola as badly as the version of me here did. He'd have, well, shot me dead when I first started talking about breaking the Vongola Rings." He paused. "But shot Gokudera first, er, for, um, trying to stop him from shooting me," he corrected himself conscientiously.

Squalo snorted in what looked like genuine amusement, going by the brief accompanying smirk.

"The Xanxus I met cares deeply about the Vongola," Tsuna went on, "and put up with having his right to lead it questioned by my dad even though it was stupid and he had to fight a bunch of teenagers. None of us died, um, even though Lambo and Gokudera are going to have those scars forever and well, he, um, froze me in a block of ice for a bit."

Squalo's eyebrows shot right up his forehead. "Boss froze _you_ in Flame Ice?"

Tsuna squirmed. "Reborn taught me it and I, er, I tried to freeze him," he confessed. "He told me I was doing it wrong, got angry at, erm, me and, um, reversed it on me."

"You're lucky not to be _dead_, trash."

Tsuna ducked his head. He did know that.

"Why is it you're so damn _sure_ this isn't your future, trash?"

"Other than Adult Gokudera and Older Lambo not having scars and my older self being Vongola Tenth, despite Xanxus having won the Ring Battles and him still being alive here?"

"Brat." Squalo looked more amused than not though. "There's something about _me_ that's throwing you off, keeping you convinced that I'm not just an older version of the Squalo you know."

Tsuna bit his lip. "Erm, well, you, well, you keep calling me 'trash,'" he admitted, "but after I lost the Sky Battle, um, er, all the Varia started calling me 'squeaky toy.'"

Squalo _roared_ with laughter.

* * *

It was another two hours before Squalo finally left; he grilled Tsuna mercilessly on everything that had happened to him since September with a strong focus on the Ring Battles, then on everything he'd seen and heard and said and done since arriving in the fake-future. The Rain Officer also made a point of calling him 'squeaky toy' rather than 'trash' and his lips had twitched every single time; Tsuna was maybe a _little_ mortified, but an amused Squalo was less scary than an angry Squalo. Less loud too, which was a relief.

"You play your game with Byakuran, Squeaky Toy," the Rain Officer had said before leaving, "we'll cover the rest."

Tsuna was mostly just relieved to not be in charge anymore; now Squalo –and therefore Xanxus– knew that Tsuna _wasn't_ Vongola Tenth, they wouldn't be expecting any kind of direction or orders from him. They'd just tell him what to do and sort out the leadership bits for the rest of the Family themselves.

He wanted to go _home._ He'd have to play this 'Choice' game thing with Byakuran first, but at least now that was his _only_ responsibility.

* * *

"So what should we take with us?"

"Everything you were wearing or carrying when you got sent here," Tsuna said firmly, "and make sure you're _only_ wearing your original clothing or something Leon-made. If we get sent back then the Territory-bits will probably just evaporate and we don't want that to happen to our clothes."

Haru made a face and gripped her shirt, evidently imagining the consequences of having it evaporate. "Definitely _not_, hahi!"

"Leon has made enough fabric that Bianchi was able to make matching suits for everyone, including Lambo and Kyoko," Reborn said, "and I-Pin and Viola have their own outfits already. Lal Mirch won't be coming; she had a relapse yesterday and is on strict bed rest."

Gokudera looked vaguely guilty, like he blamed himself for Mirch-san pushing herself too hard training him. He was wearing a suit too, but it had been carefully cut so that he could wear his leg and wrist braces under it without them showing through. He'd assured Tsuna that he was well enough to participate in the upcoming game as a sniper and Mirch-san had grudgingly conceded that his aim 'wasn't completely terrible for a green amateur' so Tsuna had lent his friend his Storm ring. Viola-san had her own and since they'd be going back today –hopefully– he was only lending them to real people.

Irie had given I-Pin his Sun ring so she could use her spider Box Weapon, claiming he did better as a non-combatant, and Spanner didn't seem to have a ring at all. Then again, _he_ had his giant Mosca robots, so he didn't exactly _need_ one…

The only real people without Flame rings were Lambo and Kyoko, so Tsuna was feeling mostly confident that they'd be able to protect them. Especially since I-Pin had quietly assured him that Kyoko _had_ taken a few lessons on hiding and escaping from Viola-san and I-Pin herself had showed her a few ways to break holds. Lambo's efforts Tsuna had already seen; he might not be as strong as the real I-Pin, but he was good enough to get away from a fight before he got hurt.

Now they just had to finish packing, eat the early lunch provided by the kitchen and head out to the shrine for midday.

* * *

They arrived at the top of the hill with ten minutes to spare, but Takeshi and Hibari weren't there. Tsuna bit his lip; while he was mostly sure that they didn't _need_ to be near the white machine to get sent back to the real world –they hadn't needed to be near it to get dragged _in_ after all– there was always the chance that Byakuran would cancel the game on the basis of the 'rules' not being followed.

"What's this?" He turned towards Kyoko, who had asked the question and was wandering closer to a flat-topped white tent.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell everybody earlier," Irie said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "this is our base unit. I transported it up here earlier this morning. Your bikes are all safe inside as well, along with Spanner's Moscas." Spanner had lost the ones he'd been keeping in the Melone Base, but he'd collected several others from warehoues around town over the past week and spent some time upgrading them.

"So this is what you and Spanner were working on for the past ten days, hahi!"

"Lambo-sama wants to stand up top!"

"It doesn't look very impressive," Gokudera grouched, setting his case carefully on the ground and gingerly shifting his weight. Tsuna guessed walking up all those stairs had been painful for him despite the weeks of physiotherapy.

"Where are Yamamoto and Hibari! What are they playing at? This is the final battle!" Onī-san exclaimed.

"They couldn't have decided not to come, could they?" Giannini fretted.

"Their training might not have been successful," Reborn commented.

Tsuna ignored all the pessimism; Takeshi _would_ be here because Squalo-san would ensure it even if the swordsman had to dump his unconscious friend here himself and Hibari wouldn't want to miss a fight. It wasn't noon yet; they had time.

"No Millefiore have turned up yet, so there's no problem," I-Pin said cheerfully, bouncing on her toes. Unlike almost everybody else, she wasn't wearing a black suit; instead she had on a red changshan over loose white trousers, which were gathered at her ankles and tucked into her socks.

The only other person not wearing a suit was Viola-san, who had on a long scaly coat-thing that completely hid whatever she was wearing underneath it other than her boots and went right up to her chin.

Off to one side Spanner hummed, peering at his laptop screen. "There's an incredibly huge Dying Will Flame signature approaching," he said. "They're closing in fast." He was also wearing a matching suit; had Reborn and Bianchi conspired to make them all look more mafia-like?

The Millefiore?

"That's odd; they ought to be right on top of us about–" A shadow fell over the clearing. Tsuna looked up; black storm-clouds swirled overhead.

"What–"

The clouds spun like a hurricane and a spotlight emerged from the eye, shining down on them from a gigantic –yet familiar– face. "Hey there, everyone!"

Well, Byakuran was _certainly_ playing up his role as 'final boss'…

"Ghost!" Lambo wailed, bursting into tears.

"It's like candy floss," Kyoko said wonderingly.

"The real thing has arms and legs too, you know," Bianchi commented dryly, adjusting the goggles she'd taken to wearing so that Gokudera didn't pass out every time he saw her. Had she actually managed to give Gokudera his exposition or hadn't he wanted to hear it?

"An illusion!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Chrome decided thoughtfully.

"I'm reading metallic signatures," Spanner said, still tapping at his laptop. "It's a gigantic machine of some kind."

"I thought I told you to make sure everybody was here," the machine-face mused. "Oh well, never mind. You're just disadvantaging yourselves, is all."

Tsuna resolved to get the rules of the upcoming game _before_ play started.

"You're the one breaking the rules here!" Irie shouted. "That machine is far too big to serve as a base unit!"

"You always jump to conclusions, Shō-chan," the face chided. "this is to transport you to the stage where we'll be holding our game of Choice; a hyper-ring Flame transfer system."

A new game mechanic then; some kind of teleportation?

"That thing you used to get rid of the Melone base?" Gokudera shouted.

"In other words, the battleground _isn't_ here in Namimori," Reborn mused.

Tsuna was relieved; it might not be real but Hibari-san would still have been angry if they'd ruined the town. Never mind all the simulated bystanders…

"Yup, that's right," the face agreed. "However, as you already know, the machine doesn't activate that easily. So it also serves as a test, to see if you're qualified to take part in today's game. Transfer requires five million Flame-volts!"

"That's twenty times the output of Tsunayoshi's highest Flame attack!" Spanner protested; Tsuna did not comment that he wasn't sure he'd actually ever _tested_ his highest possible output. He _was_ trying to be more focused and controlled after all, so he could avoid passing out after fights.

"You see, the transfer machine is a real energy hog," the face continued serenely, "so I thought I'd have you lot provide the necessary power. Think of it as your entry ticket if you like."

"But that's outrageous! How are we supposed to produce that much Flame power?!" Giannini shouted.

"Just produce the Flames whenever you're ready and the machine will collect them," the face continued, ignoring the interruption. "Oh, and not to put any pressure on you or anything, but failing to make the grade might count as losing the game, and I might have to do this–" a laser fired from its eye, causing an explosion on a distant hillside "–to the town."

"What on earth do you think you're doing?!" Tsuna heard himself yell, startled by his own vehemence.

"Whoops, my face slipped!"

"I can see how this guy could rule the world through fear," Reborn muttered. All Tsuna could see was somebody who'd never had to clean up after himself as a child.

"Well then, quickly now! Get those Flames burning! There's not much time left before twelve o'clock, when the game begins!" A rectangle appeared above the face, declaring zero Flame-volts. "Once the light shining down from me disappears, that's time up! Come along then!"

Tsuna sighed. Well, at least there was no doubt in _anybody's_ minds now that this _was_ a videogame…

"What are you waiting for? Scared?"

"Not everybody is here yet," Tsuna pointed out calmly as the spotlight continued to shrink. Last week Byakuran had said that if everybody from the past wasn't here, they'd be disqualified.

"Oh?" A gigantic eyebrow arched. "Nice to see a healthy respect for the rules. Or could it be that this is just your excuse for not being able to produce five million Flame-volts?"

"No, they'll be here." Tsuna could feel them now.

"I'm afraid your time is up."

"They're here."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Takeshi said cheerfully, arriving in the same instant as Hibari.

"Vongola Boxes!" Tsuna called out, lighting up his Ring as the spotlight narrowed to the width of a jam jar. All around him everybody pressed their special bonus Boxes to their rings. "Open!"

The white-bright combined flare hit the face, dispelling the clouds to reveal a flying saucer made of gigantic gears as the zeroes in the box spun, eventually revealing the number '10,000,000' as the spotlight widened and intensified. Was that double the required amount? Yes it was; good to know.

"You're late!" Gokudera hissed.

"Sorry, my bad," Takeshi said quietly, not smiling.

"I am not associated with you people," Hibari-san said shortly.

"Well done surpassing five million Flame-volts; you passed," the face said more congenially. "That's good. Well then, let's get Choice started."

Tsuna steeled himself.

"First we'll pick the field for Choice. I praised that lovely Flame of yours, so let's leave the field up to you."

Tsuna took that to mean that Byakuran was equally familiar with _all_ the fields, so would be confident in all of them. He did blink at the stream of cards that flowed down from overhead though. Another hologram?

"You heard the rules of Choice from Shō-chan, right? Choice is a game of choices. If we don't choose the playing field and the players first, we can't start."

Tsuna had actually made Irie write up a little booklet on the universal rules, then quietly asked Chrome to ask Mukuro to help them poke holes in them. Viola-san had also been very helpful in pointing out all the things the rules _didn't_ specify.

"And it also depends on a person's fate," Byakuran added, which Tsuna promptly disregarded. This whole world was a _game_, so 'fate' meant 'programming.' The only thing he was sure of, as he'd told Squalo, was that Byakuran _hadn't_ programmed it. If he had he wouldn't be trying to get hold of the Vongola Rings as override keys.

"All right, pick a card, Tsunayoshi-kun. That will be the Choice for you."

There were a _lot_ of cards. Tsuna breathed in, leaned on his Flames and reached for his Intuition. Knowing his friends' strengths and weaknesses, which card should he pick?

_That one_.

"Oh, lightning," the face said, then grinned. "All right! Let's go!"

Gravity abruptly stopped working and everything went white.

* * *

Tsuna hit the ground flat on his face. It hurt.

"Everybody okay?" He asked once he got his breath back.

Everybody was. Even Lambo, whose nose looked bruised.

"Ouch, that used up an awful lot of Flames," Byakuran commented from somewhere in front of them. "Welcome to the venue of Choice."

The smoke cleared; Tsuna stared. He wasn't the only one; they were in the middle of a city! A really fancy city full of skyscrapers!

It felt… kind of empty, though. He couldn't see or hear anybody else, or even any vehicles.

"Is this truly the first time we meet, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Byakuran said, standing several metres away surrounded by the people who were his Guardians. "Kinda feels like we've met a couple of times already."

Tsuna guessed that was a reference to his adult self. "So this is where we're doing battle?" He asked.

Byakuran beamed. "Correct! I cleared out everything; there's nobody here except us."

"What's this, they're just kids," the blue-haired girl behind Byakuran muttered; Tsuna did not get the impression she meant it the same way Maínomai had meant it during the Mist Battle. "Even without using a Box I could kill them." Water coalesced around her hand out of nowhere.

"No need to get excited Bluebell," the very pretty guy with mint-green hair said lightly, reaching behind Byakuran and grabbing her wrist. "Byakuran-sama's been looking forwards to this party; let's just enjoy ourselves."

Tsuna instantly pegged Mint Hair as Byakuran's Right Hand.

"Lava bath guy," Gokudera mumbled quietly, referring to the lanky redhead on the far left of the group; Tsuna was more worried by the huge guy in the mask on the far right, behind Bluebell.

"Let's start right away," Hibari-san said, taking a step forward; his Ring however failed to ignite. Maybe he didn't mean to fight with Flames just yet?

Mint Hair smiled at them; Tsuna felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "It seems the Cloud Guardian, my counterpart, is the one wearing the school uniform," he said cheerfully. "I'm Kikyō, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Another flower name?

"The next choice needs to take place," Byakuran said, producing something that looked like part of a slot machine.

"How does it work?" Tsuna asked instantly.

"I'll project it so everyone can see," Byakuran continued, two gigantic holograms appearing in the air behind each group. "Place your hand with the ring on the side of the gears, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"How does it work?" Tsuna repeated, more loudly.

"Come on, like this." Byakruan placed his hand on the cylinder.

"Please answer my question," Tsuna said steadily. "If I don't understand the game, how can I play well?"

Byakuran chuckled. "Oh, Tsunayoshi-kun… very well. Each symbol stands for a different Flame attribute and the empty box at the bottom stands for those who are not wearing a suitable ring. Our teams will be selected by the gyro-roulette according to these categories."

Tsuna hesitated; if he had to _touch_ the cylinder, that implied his input was required. Might he be able to influence who ended up on the field..?

Reaching out, he placed his hand opposite Byakuran's and flinched when the top lit up in a flare of orange.

"When I say 'Choice,' the gears will spin to the right," Byakuran concluded. Tsuna steeled himself; _not Storm. No Storms on the field._

"Choice." The wheeled whirred; Tsuna felt something pressing against his Flames and pushed back.

The gears started clicking into place, one after another starting at the top; the last-minute shove on his Flames however caught Tsuna off-guard.

"Hm, it stopped," Byakuran said. "The battle participants have been decided."

Tsuna looked up; On his side, one Sky, one Mist, one Rain, one Lightning and two unattributed, with the box at the bottom glowing. On the other side, one Sun, glowing, two Mists and one Cloud.

"But the numbers are different," Tsuna pointed out. Six against four? Okay it seemed to be in his favour, but still…

"A special rule!" Byakuran carolled. "Pretty nice draw, Tsunayoshi-kun! But now you've got to pick two of your non-Ring bearers to participate."

Tsuna looked over at Kyoko-chan, Lambo, Giannini and Bianchi and swallowed. Two?

"This is the part we actually choose for ourselves," Byakuran said. "Now then, how about we both decide which members will be taking part, hm?"

"Byakuran-san, since I'm not wearing a ring," Irie said, stepping forward, "I can count as 'non-Elemental,' right?"

Hmm," Byakuran seemed to be considering it. Tsuna wondered why Irie was _volunteering_ when he'd made it clear he _hated_ fighting. "Well, I suppose I'll allow it."

"Well then Tsunayoshi-kun, I suppose that's our members decided," Irie said.

"You can offer, but I choose," Tsuna said firmly. "Byakuran declared me opposing team leader."

"So I did," Byakuran agreed cheerfully.

Irie bit his lip.

"I will be the Sky, Chrome the Mist, Takeshi the Rain and Haru-chan the Lightning," Tsuna said firmly. "Of those without rings, Irie has offered; who else is willing?"

"May as well," said Spanner, coming out from where he'd been hiding behind Viola-san. "I don't have a ring, but at least I've taken part in fights before." Tsuna was grateful that Spanner had offered; that meant he could use the Moscas stowed in the base for the game.

"But what about me?! What was all my extreme training with Garyū for?!" Onī-san demanded. Gokudera didn't say anything, but he looked both unhappy and relieved all at once. Not being allowed to join was better than having the possibility and not being picked, Tsuna guessed; he would have picked Viola-san over Gokudera if Storm _had_ come up, purely because Viola-san was more mobile and experienced. Gokudera probably knew he'd have done it, too.

"Just sit back and accept it for the moment," Irie said flatly. "Our opponent has the same restrictions; this is how Choice works and the results or our gyro-roulette spin aren't bad at all! Not only do we have more numbers, Byakuran-san himself isn't taking part!"

"Do you think that's enough to convince me? I'm taking part," Hibari-san stated.

Tsuna spun around. "Hibari-san! Please? We just have to play this one game and then Choice is over and you can fight anyone you like!" Which hopefully would be _nobody at all_ because Byakuran would send them home, but whatever.

Hibari-san paused, then lowered his tonfas. "Hurry up, then."

Tsuna bowed quickly then turned back to Byakuran. "We're ready."

"Ahh, this sucks," Lava Guy grumbled, flopping into a heap on the floor. "Sorry, Byakuran-sama, but since it looks like I'm not taking part I'm not sure I can take all this much longer."

"My apologies, Byakuran-sama," Kikyō said, crouching down next to the fallen redhead, "it would appear Zakuro has lost his spirits."

"Well, let's hurry this up then," Byakuran agreed. "Well then, I'll go ahead and announce the participating members for the Millefiore. For the Cloud, I'll select the lovely leader of my real six Funeral Wreaths, who is always reliable to a fault: Kikyō. For the Sun, the undying who lives to kill, Daisy. And for the Mist, the phantom giant who proclaims the truth: Torikabuto."

Flower names were _definitely_ a theme.

"Aren't you supposed to have _two_ Mist participants?" I-Pin asked.

"Alas!" Bluebell wailed.

"Oh dear!" Byakuran exclaimed, eyes wide for an instant, "Which is however _not_ what we're going to say. As I mentioned before, each of the six real Wreaths have forty A-ranked subordinates. Our second Mist participant is already here." On cue, a seated guy in a mask appeared. "Torikabuto's subordinate, Saru."

If Byakuran had known from the outset he'd need an additional Mist, that suggested that yes, the gyro-whatsit _could_ be affected. So this was the team Byakuran had _picked_. They'd have to be careful.

"Now then, here comes the most important part: how to win the game!" Byakuran chirped. "There are plenty of different rules that Choice can be played by, but let's go for the most simple and effective: the target rule."

"Target rule?" Tsuna asked, so as to speed the exposition on; he _had_ read about this rule but it had been rather unhelpfully worded.

"It's a simple rule," Irie said reluctantly. "Each side selects a unit to act as the enemy's target. Whichever side's target is defeated first loses."

"I see, so each side has a general, like in shogi: a piece that much be defended at all costs," Reborn said.

"Incidentally, the targets have already been chosen through the roulette just now," Byakuran added. Tsuna's eyes widened; so _that_ was what the glowing was!

"Now when we have two or more participants of the target element, the roulette will select one of them at random," Byakuran chirped, giving Tsuna the distinct impression there was _nothing_ random about it. And…" –two flashes of light shot out of the roulette cylinder– "I guess that settles it! The Millefiore target is Daisy and the Vongola target is Shō-chan!"

"Irie-san?" Tsuna asked.

"Don't worry, this is fine by me," his cousin murmured as the fiery target attached itself to his chest.

"In other words," Kikyōsaid smoothly, "we have to defeat Irie Shōichi and you have to defeat Daisy. Whoever does so first, wins."

"Sounds simple enough to me," Takeshi said.

* * *

It wasn't that simple. Firstly because the visible glowing target on Irie was powered by his own Flame reserves, so the battle had a time limit. Secondly, because the battle was being judged by the Cervello, whom Tsuna did not think very much of following his Scramble Battle experiences and the revelation from Xanxus afterwards that he could have just conceded. Never mind that the Cervello were _definitely_ part of the Millefiore, seeing as they'd been working with Irie in his base…

Thirdly, because Squalo had stowed away in the base tent and Reborn was in there too, rather than just participating by hologram from a distance like Tsuna had thought he was.

Then they had three minutes to set up their base and for the audience to retreat to special reinforced stalls before the game began.

"Haru," Viola-san said quickly as soon as the Millefiore were out of sight, "here." She produced a machete sheathed on a belt from somewhere.

"Hahi?!"

"You're the best at stealth; Tsuna will need you to go after Daisy," Viola-san went on, tying the belt firmly around Haru's waist and drawing the blade. "Byakuran may have called Daisy 'undying,' but not much can survive without its head attached." She pushed the blade into Haru's hand, wrapped her hand around the shorter girl's over the handle and briefly mimed an angled strike. "Like that, okay? Through his neck."

"Tsuna-kun…" Haru turned towards him, then visibly steeled herself. "Haru can do it."

Tsuna nodded, keeping eye-contact. He was glad this was fake; if it had been real he'd _never_ have been able to encourage Haru to decapitate somebody.

Squalo sighed, huffed and stepped closer, adjusting Haru's grip. "Like _that_ or you'll drop it," he growled, poking her shoulders back and nudging one of her feet wider. "Stance, eye up the angle, _then_ slice; try not to get the blade wedged in their spine. Hardening the edge with Flames will help there if you're not sure you can aim between the vertebrae. Your stealth's decent and Daisy's the weakest of the lot, so you've got a chance."

"Thank you Squalo-san," Haru said, frowning fiercely as she carefully and slowly repeated the motion. Squalo poked her elbow lower, watched the next swing critically and sighed.

"Decent enough for a complete amateur. Later trash, Squeaky Toy." He loped off after the others, who were already out of sight.

Tsuna was encouraged that Squalo thought there would _be_ a later.

"Squeaky Toy?" Irie asked, looking confused.

"Me," Tsuna said shortly as they got into the base and it was relocated it away from the middle of the battlefield. He did have half a plan, which Haru getting that big knife fitted in with; hopefully there was enough time left for him to explain it before they had to start…

* * *

His plan was very straightforward: Haru would stealth up her motorbike with Lightning Flames and head out towards Daisy, who was visible on the battlefield map due to the Flame marker. Spanner would guide her, while Irie coordinated Chrome to defend the base and Tsuna and Takeshi to attack the other players more obviously on their way to Daisy and distract from Haru. Spanner would also keep the Moscas close to the base, so Chrome could hide them with her illusions and have them as backup for protecting Irie.

The aim was to have the Millefiore forget Haru was even in play or assume she was in the base, so they didn't think to look for her elsewhere. Hence her leaving the base behind Tsuna on her own motorbike while already hidden by Flames making her Hard to notice or sense, then quickly overtaking him and speeding off silently into the distance.

Tsuna _really_ hoped this worked.

* * *

Squalo watched as on the screen Squeaky Toy –and that was just the _perfect_ name for the Sky brat– faced off against the Mist Funeral Wreath with his miniature lion Box Weapon. The problem with watching a fight against a Mist on a television screen was that you inevitably missed three-quarters of what was going on…

Although going by Reborn's blathering, he was the only one to have noticed the little cringe before Squeaky Toy activated his Box weapon's Cambio Forma. Somebody _definitely_ wasn't comfortable with being compared to Primo Vongola.

Having met the kiddy version, Squalo felt they'd rather got the short end of the stick with the adult trash. This one had _sense_; Squeaky Toy wouldn't have spent six years fouling up the Vongola then gotten himself killed before anybody could nail him to the wall for it.

Following Squeaky Toy's apparent victory –it had been too easy, Torikabuto would surface again in a little while– Squalo let his attention shift to his dumbass student, who had the other enemy Mist somewhere in his vicinity while Kikyō chased decoys. Boss and the others would be landing in Japan this afternoon and he was broadcasting this souped-up kids' game on the Varia network for Information to pick over; Quality didn't turn down free intelligence on their enemies after all.

Not that the Varia had been _unaware_ of the existence of the Real Funeral Wreaths; Boss-Lady and her posse had been making their lives hell for the past year and a half over their Sky having masterminded the demise of Death's son. In fact, right now Boss-Lady was making the most of Byakuran being 'out of the office' and her already having all the necessary moles in place to bring down his empire. He had to hand it to her; when it came to vengeance, she didn't think small. The psychological warfare aspect was a hoot too; watching Byakuran's composure get stripped away little by little over the past months had been _exceedingly_ satisfying.

Squalo had never thought he'd be on the same side as the zombie apocalypse, but it went to show you never could tell how things would turn out.

Wait, what was the brat playing at now?

Oh, it was only _Genkishi_. Never mind; this would be a pushover.

Provided brat actually _got to the point_ and _attacked _rather than blathering, of course…

* * *

Tsuna was pretty sure he was going in circles; despite the radar display on the lenses Spanner had made him last week showing he was heading towards the Millefiore base, he didn't seem to be getting any closer to either it or Takeshi. What was going on? Was it broken?

No. He had a feeling…

"Tsunayoshi-kun! The navigation was never broken!"

Tsuna ignored Irie's voice in his headphones confirming what he knew already. "It's Torikabuto! I'm still trapped inside his illusion!"

He didn't have time for finesse; brute force would have to do when Kikyō was bearing down on their base and nothing seemed to be even slowing him down.

The tremor shook the entire city; maybe he'd overdone it slightly..?

"Takeshi, I'm heading back to the base to help Irie and Chrome." Haru and Takeshi would have to manage Daisy between them.

"Gotcha Tsuna!"

"The game is over," came the voice of the Cervello over the radios barely a second later. "Lord Daisy's marker has been extinguished. The winner is the Vongola Family. As the Choice battle has now come to an end, all communication lines will now be opened."

They'd… won? Already? Seriously?

"Tsuna, get up here please?" Takeshi asked, sounding a little strained. "I think Haru-chan needs extra support." In the background there was a shuddering sob.

Oh no; Tsuna should have guessed that even though Haru _knew_ it wasn't real, actually taking somebody's head off wouldn't be anywhere near as tidy as it always looked in the movies! A live-action game would have messier and more realistic effects. Turning away from the immense gouge he'd carved in the cityscape, he flew off quickly towards the Millefiore base.

* * *

Okay, Squalo was _impressed_. Most people underestimated the sturdiness of the human neck, so failed to get the head all the way off on their first try. Nice ballistic arc too.

* * *

Haru was _covered_ in blood; Tsuna hugged her anyway, because if _he_ had been covered in blood like that, he'd want a hug. Then he tried to use his Flames to burn the blood off, since Haru's suit was Flameproof. He was reasonably successful –the blood came right off the cloth and her shoes as well– but her hair and face were still covered in splatter.

"Haru-chan, may I use my Flames on your head?" He asked, rocking gently as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm going to try to burn the blood off."

"P-p-_please_, Ts-s-s-suna-k-k-kun."

Tsuna gently slid one hand up over her scalp, focussing hard on burning away _just_ the blood. It was easier than he'd expected it to be. Takeshi stood off to one side, the bloody marks on the front of his jacket showing that he'd tried to comfort Haru first, taking care to stay between Tsuna and two Cervello, who were standing around Daisy's headless body and the shockingly large puddle of blood. There was blood all up the wall behind the chair too, and on the ceiling above them as well…

The head was lying in the far corner of the balcony in its own little bloody puddle at the end of a long trail of droplets, hair also chopped off at neck level.

"It's okay, it's over," Tsuna murmured, trying to infuse Flames into his voice as well, to soothe her. It seemed to help; Haru took a deep, shaking breath and straightened up, which gave him the space to run a hand across her face and get rid of the blood there too. "There, all clean now," he assured her, taking her hands in his and discreetly burning away the scarlet spatter on them as well.

"Th-th-_thank_-you, Tsu-kun," Haru managed, still shivering. "Haru d-d-didn't th-th-think it w-w-would b-be _that_ m-messy."

"Arterial spray is a bitch," Squalo agreed, appearing up the stairs to their left and turning to survey the balcony; Tsuna didn't want to know how he'd got here so quickly. "Voi, good eye; perfect angle between the vertebrae and you didn't even scratch the back of the chair."

Haru managed to look the Varia assassin in the eye, voice barely wobbling. "Thank you, Squalo-san."

"Haru!" Tsuna turned to see Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan and Chrome dash up the stairs, Bianchi right behind them carrying Lambo; Haru promptly ran towards them and clung to Chrome, bursting into tears all over again.

Tsuna turned his attention to his own suit, which was the work of a moment, then stepped closer to Takeshi to clean up his too.

"Thanks Tsuna."

"Well, that was unexpected," Byakuran mused, landing on the open balcony with the rest of the Funeral Wreaths and walking in to stare at the body on the floor. "If I'd known Daisy had never attempted decapitation before I would have suggested it sooner." He turned to eye the head in the corner. "Oh well; he always did want to die."

Tsuna had a feeling he was missing something.

"Since we've won, you should hand over the Arcobaleno pacifiers," Reborn said, coming up the steps with Spanner, Gokudera, Onī-san, Hibari-san and Viola-san. Onī-san looked shaken.

"A boss _should_ keep his promises, shouldn't he?" Byakuran mused. "Well, I don't see why not. And I did agree to send you back after the Choice game." He smirked unpleasantly. "Which I will do, but not just yet. I have to fetch the pacifiers for you after all and do things properly."

Tsuna had a feeling that Byakuran was planning on taking back the pacifiers the moment he'd sent them back to the real world. Not that he cared; none of this was real, so it didn't matter.

"No need," said a young, high voice from the far end of the balcony; Tsuna glanced over and blinked at the weird outfit the girl was wearing. Tiny leather shorts and a high-necked crop top in black, under a flowing white cloak with the standard Millefiore shoulder armour, along with a gigantic white poufy hat with an orange stripe across it? It looked like bits of several different outfits all thrown together, never mind the orange pacifier around her neck. "I, as the boss of the Millefiore Black Spell, have brought the pacifiers here."

"Uni," Byakuran growled. Tsuna paused, registering the way Byakuran said the name. Did he mean _Yuni_, like Gamma's princess, the Donna Giglio Nero? Because in videogames it was always the little differences that were the most meaningful. _Uni_ and _Yuni_ were different names and Byakuran didn't seem the type to use one when he meant the other.

She looked the right age to be Gamma's Yuni, but something in him didn't think this was the sweet, gentle child-boss the Lightning had described.

Byakuran wanted to keep the pacifiers because along with the Vongola Rings and the winged rings he still had, they were the administration keys to this fake reality. Did that make Uni the systems' administrator? Tsuna caught Hana-chan's eye, then glanced at the stairs, then back at her and at the stairs again. Thankfully she got the hint and quietly started steering Kyoko-chan, Chrome and Haru away, Bianchi following behind with Lambo.

"So it was you," Reborn mused. "You've gotten bigger, Yuni."

Tsuna wasn't sure why Reborn had got the name wrong. Had he misheard? Was this an accent thing?

"I have, old man Reborn," Uni –Yuni? Which was it– agreed with a smile.

"You know Reborn?" Wait– "a baby is an _old man?!_"

"You're being noisy," Reborn scolded him.

"How do you know her?" Takeshi asked.

"She's my friend's granddaughter," Reborn said. Tsuna wondered if that 'friend' was the mother of Gamma's Donna Aria, the person Gokudera had mentioned as being the real-life Donna of the Giglio Nero, and if so when on _earth_ Reborn had met her to befriend her when he was a toddler.

"Nice to meet you, Vongola Family," Uni-Yuni said, turning to smile at them. Tsuna instinctively pushed back at the Flames washing over him, like Chrome and Viola-san had taught him to, and was left with that windblown feeling you got when you stopped on the curb just in time for a gigantic lorry to swoosh past inches from your nose.

"I'm a bit surprised; you're looking a lot better," Byakuran said, insincere squinty-eyed smile firmly in place. "Looks like you've got your energy back, Uni-chan."

Again the different name. Gamma had said that Byakuran had done something to his Donna Yuni, had taken away the light and kindness in her eyes, but what if it _hadn't_ been Byakuran? What if it had been somebody _else?_

Could _Skies_ possess people like Mists could?

"My heart was far away, but now it has returned," Uni said softly. "Byakuran, the way you can travel to different worlds, it seems I can do that too."

So Uni _was_ the systems' administrator for all these fake realities that Byakuran had been conquering then.

"In any case, as the Millefiore Leader of the Black Spell, I have brought the Arcobaleno pacifiers to give to the Vongola Family," Uni said, walking closer.

"When I need advice I'd love to hear it," Byakuran said acidly, "but _you_ are only second in command. I have final say in all matters and I say I am _not_ giving the pacifiers to the Vongola at this point in time. Case closed."

"I understand," Uni said, ducking her head. "Then I hereby withdraw the Giglio Nero from the Millefiore Alliance." She turned to look at him, stepping closer. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, I have a favour to ask."

"A… f-favour?" Tsuna repeated cautiously.

Uni folded her hands in front of her chest. "Please protect me."

More plot.

_Fuck_.

"Protect –b-b-but! Aren't you the leader of the Giglio Nero?!"

"Not just me;" Uni continued as though he'd not said anything, which rather reinforced that this was plot and plot-related cut-scene exposition, "also the pacifiers of my comrades." She held out her hands, revealing another four in addition to the one around her neck. Reborn was wearing a yellow one and he'd seen a blue one around Mirch-san's neck that had been Colonnello's; that made seven in total, in the same colours as Flame Rings were.

"You can't go stealing other people's things, Uni-chan," Byakuran sighed, shaking his head. "Those are part of _my_ tri-ni-sette collection and there needs to be a proper awards ceremony for Tsunayoshi-kun, since he won the game. You aren't trying to deprive him of his hard-won victory, are you?"

"No, they're not," Uni said, voice firm. "I've taken custody of these. And what you have cannot be called the tri-ni-sette."

In her hands the pacifiers began to glow; Tsuna glanced from Squalo on one side and Viola-san on the other, hoping for some kind of clue of what to do next.

"Because the pacifiers bear no meaning if their owners lose heart."

Squalo flicked his fingers behind his back; Viola-san ducked her head so her mouth dropped beneath the high collar of her coat.

"Tsuna," she said quietly though his headphones. "We're retreating to the base; Irie is getting everything ready so we can take the Flame transfer system back to Namimori _now_. Whether or not we take Yuni and the pacifiers with us is up to you, but we _need_ to leave."

Tsuna ducked his head in acknowledgement, mind whirling. What should he–

"I see," Byakuran said, tone faintly manic as he stepped forwards, "_that's_ why! That's _great_ Uni-chan! I knew you could do it! I really _do_ need you. Now, let's make up and be friends."

"Stop!" Uni said, spinning around and holding up a hand. "I can't let you possess our hearts any longer."

"The hell are you saying? I will follow you to the ends of the earth until I have those," Byakuran said, taking another step closer. "Well then, let's go home. Come over here. If you betray me, Uni-chan, does that mean you don't care what happens to the rest of Black Spell? They seem to love you _so_ much that they would be _happy_ to be boiled or burned for you, though."

Hostages?

"They'll understand," Uni whispered desperately.

Tsuna made a split-second decision. Okay, so maybe Uni _was_ the systems' administrator and responsible for them being stuck here. But right now Byakuran was doing _all_ the creepy stalker things and he was twenty-something to Uni's maybe-ten and she felt so _scared_ that Tsuna just _couldn't._

So he stepped forwards, grabbed Uni around the waist from behind and threw them both off the balcony.

* * *

Tsuna wasn't sure what he'd been expecting; of _course_ Squalo's box weapon was a shark. Fleeing across the cityscape through the air with Uni in his arms while fighting the remaining Funeral Wreaths was a whole lot easier with Hibari-san, Viola-san, I-Pin and Squalo all helping and the other girls having gone on ahead; Gokudera using his Box Weapon system to shield people really helped too.

Turning a corner, Tsuna touched down just outside the base and set Uni carefully on her feet. "Just get inside and we can leave," he urged. The door of the base opened and–

_Adult_ _Mukuro_

–stepped out.

"Hiee!"

"I will buy you some time against Byakuran, Tsunayoshi," Adult Mukuro purred, patting him on the shoulder on his way past. "You take the Sky Arcobaleno and my dearest Chrome and leave."

Takeshi dropped out of the sky a few feet away with Onī-san, Gokudera limping between them, and further down the street there was another massive explosion and Squalo careered around a corner, _riding_ his shark as one of Spanner's Moscas zoomed past towards the fray.

"Let's go!" the Rain Officer bellowed; Tsuna pushed Uni inside and grabbed Gokudera's arm, dragging him along. Takeshi, Onī-san, Squalo, Viola-san, Hibari-san, I-Pin already over at the controls with Irie and Giannini, Bianchi and Lambo, the other girls–

_Listen to me, Sawada Tsunayoshi,_ Adult Mukuro's words echoed in his mind, _you absolutely cannot let Byakuran get his hands on Yuni, the Sky Arcobaleno._

Will we meet again? Tsuna thought as loudly as he could.

A chuckle. _Of course. It wouldn't do if somebody besides me ruled the world. Now hurry your Flames into the transport system._

"R-right!" Tsuna shouted over the chaos outside. "Everybody, Vongola Boxes!"

* * *

After getting back to Namimori shrine Irie had Gokudera try to shoot the transport system down, so Byakuran couldn't use it again. Tsuna didn't really think it mattered; it was a game mechanic, so if Byakuran was going to follow them he'd manage it anyway, regardless of how damaged his teleportation machine was.

Sure enough, the machine vanished before it could collide with the mountainside it was falling into. "We need to get back to the base!"

At that moment Kusakabe popped out of the floor of the shrine, reminding Tsuna that there was a secret connection to the Vongola base from here. Everybody was pushing their way down –other than Hibari-san of course– when the teleportation machine returned and spat out five streaks of light in random directions before finally exploding and crashing to the ground.

"Well, they're here," Reborn sighed.

"Everybody into the base!" Tsuna shouted.

"I am going to investigate," Hibari-san said at once, turning and heading towards the steps.

"As will I, to the Extreme!" Onī-san followed without a moment's hesitation.

"Wait for me!" Kusakabe-san shouted, dashing after them.

"Everybody _else_ into the base," Tsuna corrected himself; Hibari-san did what Hibari-san wanted to do and Onī-san wasn't exactly any better.

"Let me use your communication room so I can report to my shitty Boss," Squalo said, pushing on ahead once they were all in the corridor.

"This way," Viola-san said, setting off down the hall at a run. The Rain Officer instantly gave chase; Tsuna jogged, making sure Uni and Gokudera were both keeping up okay.

"Hana-chan, Kyoko-chan, have you still got everybody's bags?" Tsuna remembered to ask.

"Of course; here's yours, Tsuna-kun!" Tsuna accepted it; better to have it on him, since they could get called back at any moment.

"Everybody, keep your bag with you at all times. I-Pin-chan, could you take Uni-chan to the dining room and see if there's some food?"

"Of course boss," I-Pin said cheerfully.

* * *

There was, in fact, food in the dining room. They were halfway through eating –with Mirch-san, who was looking much better for her morning's bed rest and offered the blue pacifier to Uni to go with the others– when the base shook repeatedly, echoing booms resonating along the hallway like a giant's footsteps. Abandoning the meal, Tsuna led the way out to find out what was happening and met Squalo.

"Voooi! What's going on?!"

A door blew out in red-black Flames and Tsuna suddenly knew _exactly_ what was going on: they'd been found.

By Lava Guy.

"Idiots. I've found you, Uni-sama." He said it the same way Byakuran did.

Behind Tsuna, Uni whimpered very quietly.

Lava guy –wasn't he called Zaku-something? Tsuna couldn't remember– yawned. "Tossed out of the transfer system as it blew up and my radio and transmitter blown to smithereens. Dammit; well, all's well that ends well."

Wasn't he going to attack?

Suddenly Squalo was in front of them, sword drawn and blue Flames filling the corridor. "You're all _useless_. Take Yuni and get out!"

"You're going to fight him alone?" Tsuna blurted out, then winced.

"ARE YOU TOO THICK TO GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS?!" Squalo roared. "YOU'RE ALREADY UNDER ATTACK!"

The hallway walls on either side of them promptly disintegrated, revealing the waves of hungry red flames being held at bay by Squalo's blue.

"I'll stay and–" Takeshi started.

"The fuck you will _not_," snarled a voice that was far _too_ like Xanxus's for comfort. Tsuna spun and squeaked; Viola-san's eyes were _red_ now?! Why were her bangs _floating_?!

"All of **you** **get** _**out**_," Viola-san said as she strode past them, the words heavy in a way that killed any possible argument. "**Squalo, go with them**."

Squalo backed up slowly until he was level with Viola-san. "Your father will fucking _murder_ me," he said conversationally, then stiffened as she made eye-contact. Tsuna couldn't see her face, but clearly there was something on it that gave even _Squalo_ pause.

Viola-san was _terrifying_.

"**He won't. **_**Go**_."

"Voi, as you say, princess." Squalo abruptly turned, withdrew his Flames and _ran_, tossing Uni over his shoulder as he shot down the hallway. "Squeaky Toy, try to keep up!"

Tsuna ran; everybody else was _already_ running. The last thing he heard from Viola-san was,

"**You must be the one Byakuran calls Zakuro. I wonder, do you know who **_**I**_** am?**"

* * *

"It's too dangerous to go back to the base and we know there are more of the enemy in town already," Reborn said once they'd escaped the base and travelled a short distance away and were out of sight of the exit. "How do you intend to protect Yuni, Tsuna?"

"We, erm, need to hide her in a safe place, I guess…" Tsuna wasn't sure where qualified. "Like, erm, my house, maybe?"

"Your houses and Kokuyō land have already been listed by the Millefiore," Irie said, tone faintly apologetic.

"Haru has an idea," Haru said, straightening and speaking up for the first time since the battle. "I'm friends with a realtor. She showed me a 'secret hideout house' and told me I could use it if I ever ran away from home."

That… seemed terribly videogame-like, yet it was Haru's normal everyday life? And simultaneously terribly mundane; a _realtor_, seriously?

"Voi, sounds random and unlikely enough," Squalo grumbled. "Let's get moving; the sooner Miss Arcobaleno's settled the sooner I can go back."

Squalo wanted to go back for Viola-san? Well, he called her 'princess' like Gamma called Yuni and she was definitely related to Xanxus, so it made sense he'd worry about her.

"L-let's go then," Tsuna decided glumly. He _really_ hoped they got rescued before the other Funeral Wreaths showed up…

* * *

"Here it is, Kawahira Realtor."

"Oh, Uncle Kawahira!" I-Pin said brightly. "I know him, he'll definitely help." She knocked lightly on the door. "Uncle Kawahira!"

"Oh, hello I-Pin; do come in."

Tsuna blinked at the guy in old-man clothes and round glasses eating ramen. Oh, so _that_ was why the name sounded familiar; Older I-Pin delivered ramen here on her delivery job!

"Don't worry; I'll take care of the six Funeral Wreaths for you."

"Tenth, he's suspicious," Gokudera hissed.

"Matrix-style death-game," Tsuna muttered back, hurrying inside; his friend instantly subsided. Good, Gokudera recognised that mysterious all-knowing people offering help were not to be sniffed at.

"Hide behind the furniture," Kawahira-san added, glancing back at Tsuna over his shoulder, "and keep silent. I'll do the rest." He paused. "Although I do not think that Zakuro individual will be a problem; the young lady has him _very_ well in hand."

Squalo huffed out a breath. "Yeah and _that's_ what I'm afraid of," he muttered. "Effing _Spitfire_, her mother's daughter in all the _worst_ ways, her father's going to fucking _murder_ me..." He stomped inside past Kawahira-san, dragging Uni with him.

"I don't know who you are," Uni said, leaning past Squalo, "but thank you very much."

"Yes, yes," Kawahira-san waved a hand, "Get going. Kikyō's headed this way."

Kikyō was the _scariest_ one; Tsuna hurriedly started pushing people behind the furniture, only realising that he'd just shoved Squalo around a bookcase when the assassin glared down at him.

Oops! At least he didn't get shouted at for it.

* * *

There was a scary moment when Kikyō leaned past Kawahira-san into the room, but he didn't seem to notice them and apologised smoothly before starting up a conversation with the mysterious realtor, which went on for several nerve-racking minutes before the Cloud finally excused himself politely and moved on. Kawahira-san lingered in the doorway for a good while longer before finally turning around.

"The six Funeral Wreaths are gone; you should be okay for the time being."

Everybody emerged from behind and under the furniture, I-Pin with a hand still covering Lambo's mouth.

"By the way," their host added, "that Byakuran is a very horrible man, to send assassins to hunt down such a harmless little girl."

"How do you know so much about us?" Takeshi asked.

"Oh yes; on the way past Namimori Middle I met a student. Is he your friend?"

"Hibari-san?" Tsuna felt his eyes widen. "He went to fight one of the Funeral Wreaths at Namimori Middle!"

"It would be nice if we could under-estimate their power," Kawahira-san sighed, "but they're tricky opponents."

Tsuna did _not_ ask. Squalo was also not asking; he was just watching, eyes narrowed and presence strangely subdued.

"Well, I'm leaving now. I'm shutting up the shop for a while," Kawahira-san went on, "so feel free to use anything you like."

"Who are you?" Reborn asked.

Kawahira-san paused in the doorway. "I'm the son of the old lady who owned this shop and died three years ago," he said mildly. "My name _is_ Kawahira though." He glanced back at them. "You owe me for this one." He left, closing the door firmly behind them.

Tsuna shivered. That had been a _bad_ feeling for a moment there…

"We should move on," Squalo said shortly. "The base isn't secure anymore, Kikyō will be back and we'll need more space than this if we want to fight."

"W-we could camp out in the woods? Just for a bit?" Tsuna suggested.

"Good plan." Squalo ducked back behind the bookshelf. "Anybody hungry? There's food back here." There was a rattle. "Voi, I'm going to check for supplies upstairs."

Well, Kawahira-san _had_ said they could use anything they liked…

* * *

It all went sideways as they were heading out: Torikabuto snuck up on them, impersonating I-Pin, and grabbed Uni, but then Gamma and his two underlings appeared and rescued her, so Tsuna could fight the Mist Funeral Wreath again –with Chrome helping him this time– and actually _win_ this time. Meanwhile Squalo faced off against Kikyō and Gokudera and Takeshi tried to hold off Bluebell while Hana and I-Pin tried to keep hold of Lambo and not get hit by stray attacks as they protected themselves with the gigantic boar and the spiderwebs.

It was all a mess; that the Funeral Wreaths turned out to have Boxes _embedded_ in their _chests_ did not help. Then Uni started glowing and Byakuran showed up angry about something and attacked Haru directly and Tsuna was _so __tired _but he couldn't stop when his friends were still in danger and then Xanxus charged out of the trees with a tiger and several other Varia, shooting at Byakuran and–

–everything–

–went–

–pink.


End file.
